


Shades of Purple

by Ladyanaconda



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst, Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Forced Marriage, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Irken, Pregnancy, Stockholm Syndrome, Unrequited Love, smeets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2019-09-18 05:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 78,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16989294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladyanaconda/pseuds/Ladyanaconda
Summary: She was at his mercy and he knew it. Even if for some reason her life was spared her reputation would be ruined. All her honors and achievements would be swiped under the rug, overshadowed by her crime."So what will it be, my dear?" Tallest Purple asked, his expression becoming insufferably tender.Tenn closed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. "I accept... I will marry you, My Tallest."





	1. The End of Her Life...

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea in mind for a while after reading a some stories with similar themes on Wattpad, and I thought this probably could happen in Irken culture. Before you get any ideas from the title, however, this is NOT going to be an erotic type of fic like '50 Shades of Gray'. It might have one sex scene or two later on, but I'm not going even close to the sadomasochistic thematic. I don't like that stuff XSXS  
> Another thing: although this story is in a different au from 'The Smeet' series, some characters from there will make an appearance here in slightly different, but somewhat similar, roles. You'll see what I mean later on. Still, I'm putting a small list of characters at the end of the chapters they appear in for the first time, at least for those who are yet to read my other IZ fics and don't know who is who.  
> And one more thing: this fic will have a non-linear plot, which means it won't exactly follow a plot line. I'll just let the story go with the flow and see where it heads.  
> And with that, let us begin!

Irk holds a different concept of weddings.

For starters, there's no 'religious' concept to them, it is merely a legal formality between two Irkens who wish to spend the rest of their lives with no one else. Other lifeforms would call it a 'contracted arrangement for mutual company' rather than the usual 'love compromise' involved in the process.

It is not a representative of some omnipotent being living somewhere in the sky that conducts said procedure, but the Control Brains themselves. The couple merely introduces a petition to be 'wed', which may take months (the stand-by list is very long) to be revised and _may_ be approved. If you were fortunate enough to have your petition moved to fast-forward to the top all you had to do was present yourself before a Control Brain to program your civil status as married, or 'claimed', through your PAK.

In other words, Irken weddings aren't such a big thing. Simple, with no big after-parties to gorge yourself in sugary snacks, empty, overly-sentimental and poetic 'vows' that will hold no significance in a year or the female having to wear a showy colorless garment.

Naturally, Tenn felt overwhelmed with hers for including most of the mentioned above.

"You look dazzling, ma'am!" one of the many seamstress drones chirped, proud with her work.

Tenn looked at her reflection in the mirror. The dress covered her shoulders almost full, flowing down into a gracefully draped neckline; it was a loose fit which made the dress look comfortable, yet elegant and stylish. The waist was thin, but in a tight fit. A cloth ribbon was wrapped around her and tied on one side. The skirt reached all the way down, nearly covering her feet, and was the same length all around. It had so many glitter and sequins that Tenn found it too extravagant.

White held little significance in this kind of events, it was reserved for the scientific and medical areas. Instead, her 'wedding' gown was made of a deep fuchsia fabric matching her own eyes.

"The Tallest will certainly be pleased," the same seamstress said, proud of her work. "Be sure to tell him who made your dress!" Tenn sighed. Of course, _that_ 's all she cared about.

After a few more adjustments another irkenette, this clad in the white medical colors started to do some check-ups, which included a full PAK scan, height, pulse, eyes, lekku*, etcétera. Tenn couldn't help but shudder uncomfortably, especially when she thought of the reason this check-up was being made in the first place.

The medic drone nodded in approval and stepped out of the room. Tenn heard her say 'she's ready' to somebody in the corridor. Seconds later one her escorts said in a gruff voice. "It's time to go, ma'am."

She had been dreading those words, but nevertheless, she made her way out of the changing room, ignoring the over-enthusiastic waving of the head seamstress, and into the hall. Her escort, two members of the Tallest's elite guard, pricked their lekku ever so slightly. Did she really look that good?

They quickly turned away, of course. Nobody was allowed to stare at her for too long; if they had been in the presence of her soon-to-be-husband they would have already been thrown out of… the closest thing to an airlock on Irk.

Speaking of Irk, the event would take place in her capital, the great planetary metropolis whose lights could be seen from the atmosphere. The Irkens had long eradicated every single patch of nature to replace it with buildings, machinery, towers, etcétera. The only exception was the fortress and palace of the Almighty Tallest, which had acres of gardens, forests and even a lake of unpolluted water. Courtesy of Tallest Miyuki.

Tenn was escorted into a long, sleek-looking ship, marked on the side with the Imperial seal in black: a slik cruiser of the expensive variety. It was a sort of warning to the rest of the Irken citizens that this ship either belonged to the Tallest or was transporting a very important person (usually the Tallest themselves). The privileges of this were that whoever was driving, and its passengers, could not be detained or arrested by Irk's Aerial Traffic Control, also known as IrkATraC.

As the ship joined the flock of hundreds of ships, all with varying sizes and shapes but sharing the same color shades of fuchsia and violet, flying through the city Tenn couldn't help but notice how all the vehicles made way for them as they passed. She sighed. There it goes her hope that she could at the very least earn more time through the traffic jam. How naive on her part.

By the time they arrived at the Control Brains' central, a big fortress standing out from the other buildings by its… colder and less round architecture, Tenn could feel her squeedly spooch squirming sending uncomfortable shivers down her spine. Tenn quickly ejected a small napkin from her PAK and dabbed the sweat gathering on her forehead. She couldn't have any sort of 'imperfection' as long as she was in the public eye.

Tenn had never been fond of cameras, not even in her days as an Invader where she would be on the literal spotlight after conquering a planet and firing the first cannon sweep. So naturally, she felt overwhelmed when she was met by dozens of said devices, all floating and swarming around her, trying to get a clear picture of her. On the edges of the red carpet leading up to the doors were gathered swarms of Irkens, most of the standard height, who similarly tried to get a good shot of Tenn. She glimpsed a few males who were literally drooling, captivated by how stunning she looked.

On this occasion, she was glad to be escorted. The guards shoved any shortie who got too close, pushed the cameras away with their spears and even kicked one of the drooling males for having fantasies with her.

Tenn forced herself to wear a stoic, dignified face as she elegantly strode through the carpet, not sparing any of the citizens a glance. They were all below her, both socially and literally. As a former Invader, she had to make an example.

Because of her former status, precisely, this whole situation was completely uncomfortable and stressing to her. She was a soldier, member of the Irken Elite Corps, toughened by years of combat and ruthless training. And then out of the blue, she was put in an itchy dress, with limited leg movement and shoes that slightly enhanced her height artificially at the cost of balance. How humiliating! No wonder nobody liked to wear this type of clothing.

But Tenn put up with it with dignity. It would take more than a girly dress to break her. She'd put up with this with her head held up high.

Her self-confidence faded the closer they were to their destination, especially after the doors closed shut behind her. Just like the outside, the interior was dark and ominous. Tenn and her escort passed by one or two groups of technicians and scientists, all the best in their areas, most of them not paying them any mind. After taking an elevator to the higher levels of the building, they stepped out at the trip's end.

The Control Brain chamber.

The uncertainty turned into fear when they entered the room. Tenn's eyes briefly scanned the room, looking for the cause. There he was, clad in a different type of armor for this occasion. This one was elegant-looking with spiral patterns, silk sleeves, and a long flowing cape, all in different shades of purple.

"About time, you were taking too long. I've been waiting for an eternity." He frowned at the guards. Tenn was momentarily relieved he had not yet set his sights on her. Both guards went into a quick, nervous salute accompanied by the lekku wiggle.

"It's only been five minutes, Purple." The new voice was coming from Tallest Red, who stood to one side with a soft drink in his hold. Much like Tallest Purple, he was wearing a regal armor with a long cape, except his came in shades of crimson. Tenn noticed an Irkenette, clad in a more feminine version of his armor-minus the cape- in shades of aqua green, was grabbing onto his arm. "You're exaggerating."

Purple's eyes finally set on her. The fear intensified tenfold. Those violet orbs were reeking with lust, the same lust that she had seen that night. "Well, my dear Tenn, now that you're here, shall we begin?" He held out a hand to her with a 'tender' smile. With no other choice, she extended out her trembling arm to accept it and stand side-by-side with him. It was cold. Another shiver was sent down her spine, this one of plain disgust.

A few years ago, back on her first assignment to Meekrob, she would have barely reached half his knees with the tip of her lekku. Today, however, her head almost reached up to his chest. Out of all the Invaders of her generation, she had turned out to be the tallest, though evidently, Tallest Red's wife had more in that department; unlike her, the irkenette was only about ten inches shorter than Red.

The head Control Brain, perhaps the most powerful machine in the whole universe, spoke in a mechanical yet ominous voice. **If both are present, let us begin**.

In the blink of an eye, four long cables flew down from the ceiling and attached themselves to the two Irkens' PAKs, two for Tenn and two for Purple. As she felt the Control Brain surging through her very being to make some 'adjustments', her mind went momentarily adrift...

* * *

_"Ha, I knew you would make it!"_

_Tenn rolled her_ eyes _but smiled nevertheless. "How curious, from what I hear you were already drooling for someone else."_

 _"Whoever said that?!" Invader Dren blushed deeply, then he vaguely frowned_ in _a certain direction. "It was Larb, wasn't it? Oh, I'm SO going to throw him out of the airlock!"_

_"You do know only the Tallest can do that, don't you?"_

_"Well, then I'll find a way to have them throw him out of the airlock."_

_Tenn smiled. "You know I'm messing with you, Dren, don't take it like that." She had to admit, Larb was not very… easy to interact with._

_A guard strode towards them. "The Tallest are ready for you, Invader Tenn_ , _" he said gruffly. Tenn had grown a bit taller than him, so he did not give the despective treatment he would have given a shorter Invader such as Skoodge. Poor guy._

_Tenn looked back at Dren with a smirk. "Wish me luck."_

_Dren smiled as he waved a hand._

_…_

_"The Invader responsible for this planet's conquest is none other than Invader Tenn!"_

_Her entry into the prep room was received with applause, cheers,_ and _a standing ovation. Tenn felt her chest swell up with pride. After two irk years, her mission on Meekrob was complete. The Armada was gathered around Meekrob's orbit ready to perform the Organic Sweep (the Meekrob were to be exterminated, it was too risky to keep them alive) as soon as the first cannon was fired._

 _Tenn confidently made her way to the platform where the Tallest had been addressing the crowd. She was pleased to note she had grown up to reach their chests, something very uncommon. She saluted and wiggled her lekku. "Greetings my Tallest_ , _" she spoke._

_"Why, you have certainly grown quite some inches since you were last before us, soldier," Red was the first to speak to her. "No wonder you were successful, right Purple?" He turned to his co-tallest when he received no reply. "Hello? Earth to Purple?"_

_Tenn looked up at her Tallest to see if he was okay. He was staring at her with half-raised lekku and his eyes open. It felt uncomfortable._

_Finally, he reacted with a yelp of pain when Red smacked the back of his head. "What on irk, Red?!" he snapped._

_"You were staring at… nothing." Red told him. "I was saying that Invader Tenn has grown a lot since the last time we saw her."_

_"Oh, that," Purple looked at her again, without freezing this time. "Indeed, she has." There was a hint of something in his voice. She had no idea of what, but she had learned to trust her instincts while on Meekrob. "Well, don't just stand there, fire the first cannon sweep so we start blowing things up!"_

_Tenn decided to put the feeling aside for the time being and went to press the button._

_Red nodded in approval the shot blew up a small part of Meekrob. "Commence the organic sweep!"_

_Tallest Purple never removed his gaze from her even as the planet's surface burned_.

* * *

If only she had seen it back then…

The cables retreated back into the Brains' core. **It's done. I hereby pronounce you husband and wife**.

Husband and wife… The end of her life, the beginning of their life, mostly the first. From this day on she'd be relieved from her duty as a soldier and Invader, the only one she'd ever have was to please her husband and Tallest.

 **Before I forget, you may... kiss your bride, Tallest Purple**.

Shoot. She had hoped the Control Brain would forget about that. The look on her new 'husband's' face said it all. Grin and bear it, Tenn. It's your new duty. That's what she was telling herself, being a blindly loyal Irken, but the soldier in her screamed at her for allowing this to happen.

Tenn closed her eyes shut and lifted a lekku. She felt deep shivers and a very tiny tingling sensation as Tallest Purple's own lekku intermingled with hers. Instead of the gross saliva exchanging inferior species often do to show affection, Irkens touched their lekku, also known as antennae by some, a very sensitive and intimate part of their bodies.

"If you two are done, I'm getting hungry."

"Red, give them a break. Purple didn't rush you when we got married, remember?"

"No, but he certainly didn't stop making childish noises."

Tenn felt a great deal of relief when their lekku separated. This was only the beginning, however. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Shall we go, my dear?" Tenn stared at the arm being offered to her. The tone in which he spoke sent alarms through her PAK's systems; he was getting impatient. Part of her wanted to delay the inevitable, but she knew not to push her luck. Tallest Purple was known for being the more ruthless of the two leaders, especially when things didn't go his way.

She held unto Tallest Purple's arm, forcing herself to offer him a smile of her own. This seemed to placate him for the time being, so he led her out of the control brain room and unto one of the balconies that overlooked the city of Irk.

They were met with roars of applause and cheering from the masses gathered down below. Tenn wished she could dig a hole and disappear. She had never been the type to hang around crowds, at least not in her current outfit. Her Invader uniform made her look strong and indomitable. This one made her look… girly.

Tenn subtly looked up at her husband and Tallest, noting how he was waving his arm with a proud grin on his face. Should she follow his example? She was certain he wouldn't like to be overshadowed. She waved her own arm, but her movements were slower and she didn't lift it as much as he did. They might be married, but technically he was still her superior both in rank and height.

…

The Tallest being… well, the Tallest, they liked to find any excuse to throw a party. In this case, they threw a party to celebrate the wedding. It was to be held in their stronghold and home in Irk, the Tallest Tower, named as such for its spires dwarfing the rest of Irk's buildings. It wasn't held 'inside' the castle per se, but it was held within its boundaries, in an area near the main entrance. No Irken was allowed further in if they didn't work there as servitude, and even those had limited access within the castle's halls.

Tenn mostly distracted herself by staring at the service drones who were moving around, carrying drinks to the guests and being subjected to mistreatments such as one of the tallers getting a foot in front of them so they'd trip, dropping whatever they had on top and being berated for being 'clumsy'. A few years ago she would have laughed along at their misery, but now…

"Hey, Bobby, another refill!"

"Yes, My Tallest." Tenn watched as the service drone, Bob (she remembered him from the Massive), walked away from the table with her husband's empty glass, along with many others, on top of him.

All who attended were taller Irkens: politicians, generals, even a few of the more favored Invaders during Operation Impending Doom II. No 'shortie' was allowed in, minus the drones who served drinks so the guests wouldn't have to do so themselves.

Even amongst this elite gathering, the Tallest had better seating and accommodations. Their long table was on top of a platform, both to remind the attendees they were still their superiors and to keep themselves from having to touch the ground until it had gone through cleansing to eradicate the shorter ones' filth. Tenn glanced around at the other occupants. Tallest Purple was, of course, next to her savoring on some curly fries while Tallest Red and his own wife were to his right.

The other Irkenette-she recalled from the broadcasts that her name was Lena-seemed to be in better terms with her mate. They exchanged smiles, touched each other and overall appeared to be very much in love. Tenn couldn't help but wonder if it was genuine or if she was just like her, a prisoner in her golden cage being forced to keep up appearances.

"Ma'am?"

Tenn blinked and looked down. A service drone was next to her. "Would you like something to drink?"

Tenn was about to decline when Purple answered for her. "Bring her some champagne."

"Y-Yes, My Tallest." with that the drone wobbled out of sight.

"I don't feel like having a drink, My Tallest," Tenn said with the slightest hint of annoyance.

"Come on, my dear, you don't have to be so formal with me anymore. We're husband and wife now, remember?" His voice was a mixture of sweetness and a hint of anger. The look in his eyes said it all. Don't push me, woman. Tenn forced a smile again, giving a sign that she understood. This placated his wrath yet again, at least for now.

After her drink was brought Tenn drank slowly and sip by sip. An Irken soldier should never get drunk, especially knowing what awaited once the Tallest got bored with the celebration.

* * *

The _news came like a bucket of_ hydrolic _acid being poured right on top of her squeedly-spooch. It came unto the morning broadcast that day, informing of an Invader's failure in his mission resulting in a rather gruesome demise. She hoped, prayed, it wasn't who she thought it was, but then the picture of a head without its body appeared onscreen._

_Dren's head._

_No… No, no! It couldn't be! She had spoken with him just yesterday! This had to be a nightmare! Or maybe they got the wrong guy, and her Dren was still out there._

_"I miss you so much, babe! When will you be coming back?"_

_"If all goes well, I will be calling the Armada in one month for the Organic Sweep." Dren smiled. "Then hopefully we can get married on the spot."_

_All their plans, all their dreams, the life they had planned out together… It was all taken away from her that day. Her living quarters on Irk suffered the consequences as she unleashed her sorrowful wrath. Once she had taken everything out, she clutched an old photo pad with pictures of him as she cried her ocular implants out._

_She could not mourn her beloved any further, however. She was sent a message not long after the news, urging her to present herself in the Massive. Would she be assigned another planet? The warrior part of her wished to. What a better way to vent off than to smite inferior species, after all? Plus it would certainly distract her from the painful memories._

_What she found once there was not what she expected. The Tallest were not in the bridge, and the navigators sent her instead to the Massive's upper decks, where the Tallest would be waiting for her assignment. When the elevator gates opened she found a table with two chairs, lavender candles and a vase of rare flowers that could not be found on Irk. On one of the seats sat Tallest Purple himself._

_"Welcome, Invader Tenn," he said, lifting a delicate glass half-filled with violet wine. "I've been expecting you."_

_Tenn just stared at him in utter surprise. "My Tallest?"_

_"You have been working so hard these past years that I thought you deserved a break, plus something to show you how important you are to the Empire. You're the conqueror of Meekrob after all, right?"_

_The part in Tenn that was fanatically loyal to the Empire was screaming with excitement, but the part in her that was mourning Dren felt incensed. How dare he try to woo her when she just lost her fiancée? The loyalist in her kicked this aside, at least for now. She could not refuse the invitation, not when it came from the Tallest himself._

_Besides, it had been a really long time ever since she was in any of either Tallest's good mood_.

* * *

The party lasted for a good few hours until Tallest Purple finally got bored. He was the first to leave the table, but whatever hope Tenn had of staying behind was crushed when a female guard-not the usual soldier, but the Tallest's personal guard- was sent to escort her to her new shared chambers. Tenn could almost see the envy in her eyes. All female Irkens would sell their own PAKs for a single glance from the Tallest. If only they knew…

The living quarters she was taken to were located in the upper levels of the Tallest Tower. Just like she imagined, the room was the epitome of luxury the Irken Empire could offer, exclusive only to the Tallest themselves. It was decorated in shades of purple signaling who was the owner of this bedroom. The walls and ceiling were painted in violet with lavender swirling patterns. The large canopy bed had a similar palette. There was a balcony to the right side that overlooked all the terrains within the Tallest Tower's boundaries and the distant lights of the city.

The cruel irony, the room had been decorated for the 'occasion'. While usually this was deemed a waste of time and resources, the current Tallest were pretty frivolous and liked this type of stuff if only to show off the fact that they could enjoy it. There was a trail of magenta petals of some kind of flower leading up to the bed, also covered in said petals. Primitive wax sticks with tiny purple flames were strategically placed around, releasing a nice scent of sugar.

To her relief, Tallest Purple was not there. Where had he gone?

Tenn almost begged the guard not to leave her, but she had already left. With nothing else to do she explored around the room. Before doing so she took off the shoes. Irk, her feet were killing her! Stupid heels! Tenn felt a shiver of pleasure down her spine and through her antenna when her soles came into contact with the soft, velvety carpet with every step she took. Irken feet and hands were unusually sensitive to touch; this was the reason they used gloves and boots all the time, only taking them off within their own homes.

"About time."

The familiar voice sent shivers down her spine. Tenn turned around. There he was, leaning against the door leading to the bathroom, looking annoyed. Tenn almost blushed deeply when she realized his robes were gone, exposing all his upper body. A deep violet towel was wrapped around his waist.

"I'm s-sorry, My Tallest." Tenn quickly apologized. She didn't want to make him angry right before IT; they were out of the public eye and the wrong thing to say might blow up his volatile temper.

Tallest Purple came closer to her, circling around while examining her head to foot. Tenn froze again when she felt one of his long, spindly fingers running down her spine. She felt the dress being ripped from behind, causing it to drop to the ground and expose her naked body. She didn't really care about that piece of showy clothing, what nearly did it was feeling the touch.

"You certainly have grown, dear Tenn…" she heard his soft voice whisper into her non-existent ear while feeling his hot breath against her skin. "Who would have known you'd be so… exquisite?"

A yelp escaped her as she was effortlessly picked up and carelessly thrown unto the bed. She would have marveled at how soft and comfortable it was if it weren't for the male towering on top of her. Before she knew it Tallest Purple was right on top on her, his eyes hungrily staring down. Tenn's equivalent of an Irken heart was beating like mad. Her lekku went flat against her head.

"Of all the females I've seen in my life, none has ever been as tall and beautiful as you." Two long fingers stroked her cheek in an almost tender way. Tenn's hand flew to grab his wrist in pure instinct.

Tenn knew she had made a mistake when her 'husband's' gaze darkened again. She thought he'd strike her or hurt her in any way, but Tallest Purple merely chuckled. "You still have fighting spirit. I like that," his hands gripped both her arms to pin them to the sides, squeezing them painfully. "It will make it even more exciting. I like women who play hard to get."

 _It's not like you're giving me any choice_. Tenn thought bitterly.

She felt it: his lekku intermingling with hers again. It made all the other bodily sensations pale in comparison to what she was feeling now. The tingling sensation from before returned, but on this occasion, it returned tenfold. An Irken's lekku is the most sensitive-and intimate-part of their bodies. A single touch was enough to override even the PAK's receptors. In Irken culture touching another's lekku was often seen as Taboo because of this. The only instance in which this was allowed was between married pairs or two very close friends with permission from both sides. It should have been a pleasant experience, but the circumstances under which this was happening turned it into a nightmare.

Her warrior side wanted to kick, fight, take out her PAK legs and run them through him, anything that allowed her to fight back. But an Irken is raised (and programmed) from birth to be loyal to their Empire and their Almighty Tallest; no matter if they were treated unfairly, abused, mistreated, thrown out of the airlock, etcetera, the PAK programming prevented any Irken from bringing any harm upon their leaders or have any negative thoughts of them.

Part of the PAK reprogramming Tenn went through for her new married life, however, partly modified this, and even her update was different from the usual since her husband was one of the Tallest. She still couldn't physically harm nor attempt to kill him, but she could now see him the way he was, with all the flaws without any tinted filters. The purpose of this was to give both parties a more 'genuine' interaction. Technically this meant Tenn could curse her Tallest for the first time in her entire life.

Since there was no way to escape, Tenn could only try to retreat back into her mind, looking for any memory within her PAK she could cling to in order to distract herself. The one she found was not exactly what she was looking for, but she was so desperate she sunk into it...

* * *

 _She had a bad feeling when she entered her apartment that night. It was completely dark and the lights wouldn't turn on through PAK or_ vocal _command. Tenn warily stretched her PAK-legs out and activated her night vision to move around in the darkness without knocking anything aside._

_"You have a lovely house, Tenn."_

_Tenn jumped and swiftly turned around, two PAK-legs high in the air preparing to strike the intruder only to come to an abrupt halt inches away from his stoic face. Tenn blinked in surprise. "M-My Tallest Purple?!"_

_He was casually sitting in her couch, his fingers drumming against each other, a half-stoic, half-friendly expression on his face. What was he doing here? She didn't need to ask how he got in; as the Almighty Tallest, he could access to wherever he wanted. Her PAK-legs retracted automatically; one should never get any higher than the Tallest or the consequences could be grave._

_"W-What brings you here, My Tallest?" Tenn asked. The last time she saw him they didn't... exactly leave on good terms, on her part mostly. Had he come to punish her for such disrespect?_

_Tallest Purple merely started toying with one of the mini-figurines in her table. "I came to apologize, dear Tenn." Tenn blinked. Had she just heard right? "Sorry I couldn't make you love me the 'easy' way."_

_One good thing about Invader training; learn to anticipate. Tenn jumped to the side just as his PAK-legs emerged nailed down unto the spot she had been standing on seconds ago. Survival instinct and her warrior spirit overcame the PAK settings preventing her from harming her Tallest. Tenn gave the loudest war cry she could muster and retaliate with her own PAK-legs coming out on the offensive._

_The fight was brief. Despite Tenn's best efforts and managing to scratch her aggressor's cheek, this action caused her PAK to send corrective jolts of electricity through her body. As mentioned before, touching the Tallest was taboo; if she made it alive out of this she'd be deactivated for such an offense. Tallest Purple took advantage of this to grab her by the throat and pinned against the wall; his PAK-legs jabbed into the wall around her, creating a small prison from which she could not escape._

_Tenn felt herself trembling as he glared down at her. She might be taller than before, but Tallest Purple still loomed over her considerably and with a threatening expression. He brought his claws to his cheek and wiped a small trail of pink blood running down it, taking a brief look at it. Tenn allowed a horrified gasp to escape her upon realizing what she had done._

_"Well, well, what do we have here?" Purple's voice was serious. "You have inflicted harm on an Almighty Tallest, thereby violating one of Irk's most ancient laws, am I right? I wonder what the Control Brains will have to say about this."_

_Not the Control Brains! She'd be lucky if she was just banished or re-encoded. Whoever dared lay a hand on the Tallest, regardless of the circumstances, were usually deemed defective and terminated._

_"Or we could come to an agreement," Tallest Purple suddenly said, pretending to think. "As you know, there is only one position in which you could lay a scratch on me without as much of punishment from the Control Brains."_

_Tenn felt a shiver run down her spine. She knew where this was going. She took a deep breath when his fingers ran down the side of her face again, feeling his lustful gaze on top of her. His expression turned somber again._

_"Marry me and I will make all of your dreams come true. You will want for nothing, you will be respected throughout the Empire and you will rise to the heights of Irken society. Refuse me and I will turn you in to the Control Brains for assault on the Tallest, and you will most likely be deemed a defective and put down if you're lucky."_

_She was at his mercy and he knew it. Even if for some reason her life was spared her reputation would be ruined. All her honors and achievements would be swiped under the rug, overshadowed by her crime. She'd probably be re-encoded as a pleasure, food service, janitor drone or any other humiliating work the Control Brain could think of. Worse: she could be banished and cut off from the Empire, the worst punishment an Irken could get. Even defectives would rather face deactivation than permanent exile._

_"So what will it be, my dear?" Tallest Purple asked, his expression becoming insufferably tender._

_Tenn closed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. "I accept... I will marry you, My Tallest."_


	2. ...The Beginning of Their Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, i won't be putting many... mature scenes except when I feel it's relevant. Right now, however, I'm just going to imply what happened between Tenn and Purple, considering the former isn't willing to do it.

She didn't know how exactly, but somehow she made it through the first night with her 'husband'. Maybe her _PAK_ had something to do with it; she had been trying _very_ hard to retreat back into her subconscious. Tenn wasn't used to sleeping much; thanks to the _PAK_ 's energy reserves it usually wasn't necessary for an Irken to sleep at all; this went double for Invaders, who needed to be on high alert all the time. So, sleeping was considered a luxury only the Tallest themselves could afford.

Speaking of the Tallest, he was fast asleep right next to her, his back turned and snoring loudly. The whole thing tired him out, perhaps? Or maybe he got bored. She wasn't really sure, only that eventually the touching stopped and he fell to the side of bed, where he eventually drifted off.

Tenn quickly removed her blankets off her lower body to find it stained with drops of pink blood.

He had done _it_.

Losing one's 'maidenhood' usually held no vital significance in Irken culture, in part because Irkens had no time for such frivolities and the _PAK_ eliminated the 'unsatiable appetite for sexual intercourse'. Such a biological thing was considered a waste of time that could hinder the soldiers' performance. It usually could only be re-activated by the Control Brains when Irkens wed and presented a special petition. There _were_ rumors that this _PAK_ filter was not present in the Tallest's _PAK_ s, however, judging from the creation of planets for certain... purposes, such as Orgydia and Sexia.

But to Tenn, losing it against her will was not only humiliating, it was as if she had been killed on the inside. The former Invader let out a sob, only to cover her mouth in panic and glance at her husband in fear. Knowing Tallest Purple, he wouldn't like to be awakened so early. She silently got off bed and went straight into the bathroom, closing the door shut behind her.

Just like the bedroom, the Tallest's bathroom was big and luxurious, but Tenn didn't stop to awe at it. She filled the bathtub with cleansing gel, stepped into in and started scrubbing her body thoroughly with a sponge. She wanted to get rid of this feeling; the sensation of his hands touching her, his tongue traveling down her neck... She scrubbed harder every time she remembered it, inadvertently dislodging dead skin unto the gel. The feeling of disgust and revulsion never left her, however, try as she might.

Tenn felt her eyes stinging with tears, but she blinked them away. An Irken soldier _never_ cried nor showed any signs of weakness. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her weep. No matter what he, Control Brains or even her own _PAK_ said, she was still an Invader. She'd find a a way out of this. She _was_ the conqueror of Meekrob, after all.

Yet the more vulnerable part of her wanted to cry, scream, bury herself into the ground and disappear. She had been violated by one of her leaders, and was aware he'd never be punished for it. It wasn't a punishable crime in their society, in part because the act itself wasn't given much importance like other inferior species did.

Tenn was so caught up in this inner turmoil she didn't realize she stayed in the cleansing gel for a long time until she felt her skin starting to wrinkle. As she stepped out of the bathtub, its contents emptied by itself automatically. The mauve towel she dried herself with was just as soft as the blankets.

That's when Tenn realized she had no clothing here. As far as she knew, it had all stayed behind in her old apartment, and she doubted Tallest Purple would have sent for it. He probably was outside, waiting for her to come out completely naked with a wolf grin (earthen saying she once heard from Zim) on his face. When she took a peek outside, however, she found the dormitory empty instead. At the very least he was gone!

One could never be too careful, though, so Tenn wrapped the towel around herself and tried to cover as much of her body as she could before stepping out of the bathroom. Oh, Irk, this carpet was _so_ nice, and the Tallest actually _walked_ on top of it. Tenn recalled a time where she would have kissed it for _that_ simple reason.

The bed was already made. Odd, she hadn't heard any servant drones come in and she had the feeling Tallest Purple didn't even know how to make a bed properly or at all. This confirmed that she _had_ been in the bathroom for a long time, especially when she noticed it was noon. On top of the bed was a beautiful set of robes, similar to the Tallest's own but more 'femenine' and colored mauve, matching her own eyes. There was a note on top of it.

 _My dear Tenn, given your new position there's no way you're using those nasty old clothes from before. It wouldn't look good on_ my _image if my wife used lowly soldier clothing, right?_

_Your almighty, handsomely tall husband._

_P.D. I went to get some breakfast. Be sure to join me when you're done in the bathroom. Hurry or I'll eat all the curly fries!_

Tenn muttered as she crumpled the note and launched it into the garbage chute with a surprisingly accurate throw. Of course he'd act as if nothing had happened. Still, she didn't have anything to lose with wearing those clothes. It was this or walking around undressed. She would have liked to do this if only to spite her Tallest Purple, but she knew better than to press those buttons. She had seen what happened to those who dared make _him_ angry.

The robes turned out very comfortable. Tenn looked at herself over in the mirror. She felt _very_ different, so much she nearly didn't recognize herself. Instead of a fully-trained Invader, she saw a petite, trophy wife forced unto a role she never wanted. It sickened her. Eventually Tenn couldn't take it anymore and left the room.

She would have gotten lost if the Control Brain hadn't downloaded the Tallest Tower's schematics and blueprints into her _PAK_ when it was changing her status to 'married', precisely so she wouldn't get lost in her first day. The morning rays coming through the wide windows almost gave her golden cage a warmer feeling. Almost.

Tenn heard a small sound. A tiny squeal, yet when she looked around she saw no one. Being home to the Almighty Tallest, the tower was devoid of any shorters and servant drones, particularly the more... personal areas. Another squeak, and a small tug on her robe. Curious, Tenn looked down to find a tiny smeet with moderate cyan eyes clinging to her robe.

Tenn momentarily wondered what was a smeet doing there until she recognized him from the news broadcast. Taller smeet Rouge, younger child of Tallest Red and his wife; he was born not long ago, perhaps about three lunar cycles. His wide round eyes were curiously looking up at her.

"There you are!"

Tenn's lekku twitched at the familiar voice just as the smeet's mother hurriedly strode towards her. Tenn froze, unsure of how to react to her presence or how she would react to her smeet clinging to a total stranger who was also shorter than her. Rouge, on the other hand, squealed in delight and let go of Tenn's robe to clumsily try to crawl over to his mama.

Lena bent down to pick up her smeet. "You little rascal, how many times are you going to climb out of your crib?" She asked, playfully tickling the little one's belly and receiving some giggles in return.

"Oh, m-my tallest!" Tenn's head bowed and her lekku wiggled.

"There's no need for you to do that anymore, Tenn. By Irken law we're equals now."

"But you're still taller than me, ma'am..."

A small laugh. "Tenn, seriously, I'll be more comfortable if you call me Lena." She was surprisingly nice for a taller Irken, especially given her position. "Anyway, how about we go join our husbands before Purple eats all the curly fries?"

Tenn found it odd she referred to Tallest Purple in such an informal way. Perhaps she was free to do so because, as Tallest Red's own mate, Tallest Purple couldn't lay a finger on her. Or maybe she only called him like this when he wasn't around? Guess she'd find out later. Right now her body was asking for sugars. Tenn recalled she hadn't really eaten anything since last night. "Lead the way, then."

Lena offered yet another kind smile just as both made their way down the hall. As they walked, Lena gently placed Rouge inside a small pouch, discreetly sewn in the abdomen area of her robes; it bulged out with the smeet in it, almost making her look pregnant if it weren't for the tiny lekku sticking out. Rouge shifted a bit inside it before settling down with a content purr. While Tenn usually had no interest in motherhood stuff, she had to admit it was quite a cute sight.

The dining room was located a few stories down after going down an elevator, behind yet another elegant-looking door. It was like Tenn half-imagined: a very long table with anti-gravity seats on each side, one for each Tallest and their... mates. Tenn's mouth watered when she saw all the variety of snacks on top of it, many of which could only be consumed by the Irken Leaders.

Tenn winced when she spotted Tallest Purple already on his seat. "About time, what took you so long? You didn't get lost, did you?" he asked, already munching on curly fries, just like he said he would in the note. "Like, that would be ridiculous. The Control Brains downloaded a map of this place into your _PAK_ , it would be dumb for you to get lost."

"Says the Irken who got couldn't find the gaming room right next to your quarters." Tallest Red added slyly.

Tallest Purple pouted in response. "It's not my fault all doors look alike!"

Tenn almost found it hard to believe this was the same Irken who was cunning enough to force her into this situation through underhanded methods, but she knew better than to judge. Everyone has a darker side, a shadow if you prefer. Some only brought it out under certain circumstances, others relished in it and often became one with that second personality.

Her husband was a sort of combination of the two: all of Irk knew him to be a bit childish and somewhat immature sometimes, but was also aware that he was the more... aggressive of the two current Tallest deep down, especially if the correct fuses were triggered. The proof was that he'd throw random soldiers out of the airlock or blow up entire worlds if he felt they had offended him in any way or simply if he was bored.

"Come sit by me, Tenn."

He wasn't _exactly_ asking her. He was outright _ordering_ her to in a sugarcoated manner. Tenn wanted as much distance between herself and her Tallest after what happened last night, but she did not wish to see his 'shadow' this early, especially since Lena had already gone to sit next to Tallest Red. With a silent gulp she made her way to the anti-gravity chair floating a few inches away from that of Tallest Purple's; she felt his gaze upon her for a few brief seconds before goinng back to his curly fries. Phew. Looks like his taste for snacks was stronger than his lust.

Tenn mostly distracted herself during the first part of breakfast by taking a look at the available food in front of her. Some were the most common variety such as chips, donuts and popcorn, but others were only seen in fancy places only afforded by the taller Irkens. Cupcakes, pastries, chocolate... Those three were only available to the Tallest. During her cadet days she'd hungrily watch as the taller Elites gorged themselves with snacks while the lower-ranked soldiers such as her had to literally fight for the crumbs that fell to the floor. And now that she had the 'forbidden sugars' right in front of her she wasn't sure of what to think.

_Squeak!_

Rouge poked his head out of his mother's pouch to take a look around. He looked so cute, especially when his tiny arms reached out for a nacho.

"Not until your grow your teeth, you little squirt." Tallest Red whispered, affectionately patting the smeet's head with a finger. Rouge responded with a small growl as he started to nibble on his father's finger. Tallest Red sighed.

"Look on the bright side, at leas this time he's not attacking your antenna." Lena shrugged with a small laugh.

"Shut up."

Once again, Tenn noted there was no hostility in that word exchange, but rather playful mocking. This probably meant they did actually marry for love, right? Especially since Lena had already given her Tallest two smeets.

Tenn felt her squeadly-spooch growling again, prompting her to randomly pick whatever snack she had in front. She was about to bite unto one of the donuts when a loud cough to her right caught her attention.

"Really, woman, of all the exotic food here you pick the most common one?" Tallest Purple asked. With a chagrined sigh he picked a bag filled with something she had never seen. "Here, try this one."

"Are you sure giving her the marmallows is a good idea? Remember how Rouge got when he tried one?"

"Rouge is a smeet, Tenn here is a full-grown Irken, I'm pretty sure she can handle it?"

Tenn tentatively accepted the bag: she found the term unfamiliar. "Marmallows?"

"Earthen-snack," Tallest Purple said with a shrug. "I admit, those 'hyoomans' might be idiots but they have a good taste."

Right, the backwater planet Zim had been sent to a few years ago. It was a ploy to get rid of his… destructive tendencies, but it turned out the place was rich in pure sugar, very valuable resource for the Irken Empire. Tenn assumed this was the only reason the Tallest still kept in touch with that annoying little defective; he occasionally sent hyooman pastries and snacks, among other things. She wondered if they'd eventually send an actual Invader to that planet.

The marmallow was white and squishy, like those puffy snacks made for toothless smeets. Would it taste good? It must if the Tallest had it in their own stash, considering how refined their palates were. Another protest from her squeedly-spooch. Well, if anything, getting sick would mean Tallest Purple wouldn't be able to touch her tonight. With this in mind, Tenn grabbed a marmallow and took it into her mouth.

Her lekku went straight. It was sweet, but not cloying. It was soft, but not too mushy. Tenn swallowed it. It wasn't that bad. She gave another bite to the next marmallow. Then another. Another. It's delicious! She wondered what it's made of.

Tallest Purple chuckled. "What did I tell you?"

"Hey, speaking of which, how was your first night?"

Tenn nearly choked on the marmallow she had just swallowed as the topic was brought up. Her cheeks felt warm and the uncomfortable feeling returned.

"It was very good, indeed." Of course, it was for _him_. Too bad Tenn couldn't say the same thing.

"Must you two really talk about that at the table?" Lena said with a disapproving frown.

"Come on, Lena, we're all grown up Irkens, and Rouge won't even remember we talked about this when he grows up."

"But we're eating, Purple."

Tenn blinked in surprise. She referred to him informally, and he didn't seem mad about it. Perhaps she wasn't afraid of him because she knew he would never be able to touch her as long as Tallest Red was her mate.

_Squeak!_

Tenn jumped at the little sound coming right from her… lap. Looking down, she found Rouge on top of her skirt, again looking up at her with wide, cyan eyes… Or rather, he seemed to be looking at the marmallows.

"Um, Lena…" Tenn said, awkwardly looking down at the smeet. He was reaching out for the marmallow she was holding in her hand, whimpering, but she wasn't sure if she could give him one. Tallest Red made it sound like when he had one it didn't end good. How did he get to her lap, anyway?

"Oh, Rouge! Sorry about that, Tenn, sometimes he gets a little too bold!"

"No, no, you don't need to leave your seat. I'll handle it." Much to Tenn's surprise, Tallest Purple picked Rouge in his hands with careful tenderness. "Besides, he wants to come with his favorite uncle, don't you? Don't you?" Tallest Purple chirped playfully as he tickled Rouge's belly. The smeet giggled and gurgled happily.

"Don't overdo it, he's just ate." Tallest Red warned him.

"You're jealous he likes me better."

Tenn had to contain a laugh when Tallest Red pouted and gave 'gimmie' gestures at Tallest Purple, urging him to return his son. Rouge seemed to resent the exchange and started nibbling on his father's fingers playfully.

"Is he that… curious?" Tenn couldn't help but ask.

"You should see him when he climbs into our bed." Lena did laugh a bit.

Tenn felt her squeedly-spooch drop at Tallest Purple's next words. "Just wait until we have our own smeet."

* * *

Tenn slammed the doors shut behind her and made sure to put the electronic lock on. For some moments she just stood there, panting heavily and clenching her fists, muttering under her breath. He couldn't be serious, right? A smeet? They just married a day ago and he already wanted one? What did he think she was, a smeet-factory of some sorts?

What was she going to do? He was probably going to force her to mate until she got pregnant, and then what? She wasn't even sure her body would be able to bear it. There was a reason organic reproduction was mostly defunct nowadays! A small percentage of Irkens still did it, but she had heard females had a hard time because their bodies struggled to maintain a full-term pregnancy, even with the PAK's aid. Tenn wanted to think he couldn't force her to do that, but he had found a way to make her his in the first place. What made her think she could slip out of this when she couldn't do anything the first time?

There was a knock on the door. "Open up, Tenn."

She wouldn't open the door, of course, but it seemed he expected her precisely not to do that. Tenn had momentarily forgotten he could override any electronic lock in this place, so she got startled when the doors whizzed open behind her. She was fast enough to run to the other side of the room on her PAK-legs just as he strode in.

"Must we go through that again?" Tallest Purple asked, rather disappointed at the hostility.

Tenn hated to be reminded of the mistake that brought her here in the first place. "Don't you know the concept of privacy?" She hissed.

"As a matter of fact, I do, I simply don't think you're not deserving of it just yet. It's a privilege you must earn."

"Earn how? Posing as your sex doll or your smeet-making factory?"

"Oh, so _that_ 's what this is about." Tallest Purple shrugged. "It's bound to happen eventually, right? I mean, when two people love each other very much-"

"Love?" Tenn laughed bitterly as her PAK-legs retreated. "Is this how you see love? Keeping me here against my will through blackmail?"

Tallest Purple almost looked hurt, regretful even. "You forced me to take those measures, Tenn."

"Don't blame _me_ for _your_ actions!"

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me, you might be my wife but I'm still your Tallest," he hissed with a deep frown. Then his tone softened again. "All I was asking was one chance, I tried it the good way but you refused to see it."

"I had just lost my fiancée!" Tenn said with tears in her eyes. "I lost the man I loved and you didn't care! You had no respect for my pain and instead tried to woo me as if nothing had happened! And as if that wasn't enough, you had the gall to blackmail me!"

"Tenn, we're Irkens. Our kind go to the battlefield knowing they might not make it alive. Your… fiancee, whatever his name was…"

"Invader Dren." Tenn hissed. Speaking his name again hurt.

"Invader… Dren?¨A look of familiarity flickered into Tallest Purple´s eyes at the name. "Oh. The guy that was assigned to Sobr and got his head chopped off." The reminder of Dren's fate was almost enough to send Tenn into a sobbing mess, but she kept her composure. Not in front of him. "Well, sorry for your… loud. But you should get over it, he'd probably want you to move on, don't you think?"

How dare he…? It was bad enough he didn't respect her pain, and now he brushes it off just like that? Tenn clenched her fists and gave her the most hateful glare she could muster.

"Now, now, Tenn, that's no way to treat your husband and Tallest, is it?" She had to close her eyes shut when Tallest Purple drew closer to her; she stepped back, but felt the wall against her PAK. It took her almost every fiber not to unleash her PAK-legs unto him again. She felt his fingers stroking her cheek.

_Don't touch me._

"You met Rouge already. He's a cutie, isn't he? Just imagine it, Tenn. A little smeet of our own…." the tips of his claws gingerly touched her flat abdomen. "With my tallness and your invader genes, I bet he'd not only be the best Invader, but also the tallest of them all."

Tenn didn't dare open her eyes, but she could feel his breath just behind the spot an ear would be in other species, letting her know he was leaning in. Her body betrayed her as she started to tremble when Tallest Purple's hand found its way to her back and pulled her closer.

"And as you know, there's only one way to make a smeet…"

At that moment there was a knock on the door. Tenn breathed out in relief when Tallest Purple's attention went to the door. "What?" He hissed impatiently. "We're a little busy here!"

"Sorry for intruding, m-my Tallest, but your ship is ready."

Another irritated mutter. "We'll be there shortly."

Tenn almost, almost, felt relieved until she noted Tallest Purple had talked in plural. "Are we going somewhere?" She couldn't help but ask.

"You got an appointment with the doctor, of course."

"Me? Why?"

The grin he gave her gave her a bad feeling. "You'll see."

* * *

"Everything seems to be fine, My Tallest. Her abdomen and hips seem to be a bit to narrow, however. It might make it difficult for an egg to come out."

"Come on, doc, Lena's hips are even smaller and she gave birth normally!"

"But she was taller and due to her lack of time in the battlefield, her body did not get rid of any 'unnecesary' functions. Lady Tenn, on the other hand, has a good body structure but her time as a soldier caused her reproductive sac to shrink considerably."

A fertility medic. He brought her to a fucking fertility medic. How utterly humiliating. He was serious about the smeet thing.

"But you can fix it, right?"

"Well, it is possible to re-adapt her reproductive sac to improve success rate-"

"Do that."

Tenn crossed her arms. "Don't I get a say on the matter?" She growled. It's her body, after all. She should be the one to choose if she wanted any surgeries or not.

"If you wish, I could give you some time to think about it. It's not an easy-decision..."

"Do it."

The repressed, but evidently impatient, tone in which Tallest Purple spoke seemed to have the same effect on the doctor. He nodded quickly and motioned Tenn to lie face up on top of a cold, metal table. With no other choice Tenn did as told. She momentarily removed her PAK to be connected to a database where the information regarding natural pregnancy, symptoms and biological reactions would be downloaded. Meanwhile, a robotic arm with a syringe came down and pierced through her skin. Tenn started to feel drowsy, but kept her eyes open long enough to see some more tools lowering down towards her abdomen before everything went dark…

...

_"Ah, Invader Tenn, there you are! Come sit by me!"_

_Despite the cold presentiment at the bottom of the squeedly-spooch, Tenn could not bring herself to reject the offer, especially not in such a public place. She had to force herself to respond with a timid smile as she sat down next to Tallest Purple. She could already hear the jealous murmurs from the other Irkens, particularly other Invaders such as Larb. Part of her relished in the attention and the reactions it elicited from her fellow Invaders._

_For the next one hour and a half she centered her attention on the blood sporting down below as defectives were sent into the arena to 'fight' against the digestor; the sugarcoating was pretty evident, the true purpose was to get rid of the useless Irkens in an entertaining way. The Tallest would laugh at the carnage; every now and then they'd add a little extra, such as covering the gladiators in raw meat or having them do a silly dance._

_Tenn had been present to these before, but always from the overcrowded seat rows where it was hard to see what was going. This time she had been invited to the Tallest's own private lounge by Tallest Purple himself. She had no idea why, but well, any chance to be on either Tallest's good side was to be taken, right?_

_The lounge was in the higher rows of the colosseum, which included a varied snack bar and a wide, transparent window from which the events could be seen from any angle. Tallest Red's wife wasn't present. Guess she was busy with other things. Tallest Red himself was crying out in excitement as the newest victim-err, gladiator was teleported into the arena._

_Tallest Purple, on the other hand, was unusually quiet. Perhaps it had to do with his whole attention being on_ her _. Tenn would feel his piercing gaze on her when her attention was centered on the digestor, but when she gave him a quick glance he'd look down at the arena. If he was trying to be subtle, he was doing an awful job at it._

_"Do you know the history behind this mood sport?"_

_Tenn turned to Tallest Purple, confused. "My Tallest?"_

_"The digestor fights. Originally they were a sort of... courting method," Tallest Purple's eyes never left the beast as it chased the short, plump defective around the arena. "Whenever a male wanted to mate with a particular Irkenette he'd go look for a Digestor and slay it to take its head back to his intended. Of course, almost no one made it alive out of that."_

_"That's... interesting, My Tallest." Tenn said half-admittedly._

_"Nowadays that practice has died out,_ but _the Digestor fighting-thing remained, except now it's a good way to get rid of the useless assets in the Empire in an entertaining way."_

_"Indeed it is, My Tallest."_

_Was it her idea, or had he shifted closer to her during the tale?_

...

When she next awoke she felt sore, particularly in the area around her belly. As her vision cleared up she lifted he head in time to see a multitude of medical tools retreating back into various hatches. Looking down, she briefly saw a long line before it disappeared as the nanobots injected in her bloodstream during the procedure mended her flesh.

Tenn's lekku twitched when she heard some voices coming from the doctor's office, undoubtedly coming from him and Tallest Purple. It sounded like they having a sort to argument, mostly on Tallest Purple's side while the doctor was doing his best to explain... whatever he was explaining. Seconds later the door opened and Tallest Purple walked, or rather hovered, out.

"Tenn, grab your _PAK_ and let's go." he said.

Tenn didn't want to give him any reasons to be extra 'bossy' tonight, so she got up, retrieved her _PAK_ and put it back on its rightful place on her spine. She almost regretted it when a wave of new information almost overwhelmed her organic brain, causing her a headache. She nevertheless managed to follow Tallest Purple all the way back to his ship.

The flight back was mostly silent. Tallest Purple did ask her if she was okay, but Tenn had responded with a half-curt, half-pained 'yes'. In truth, however, Tenn was feeling both dizzy and sore from the surgery and the knowledge passed into her _PAK_ , which was also dealing with the new change in her body, particularly he squeedly spooch. To pass the time Tenn searched for the data about smeeting transferred into the _PAK_. If she'd be forced to go through it, she might as well know what it was about.

Once the fertilization took place, an embryo would form within the squeedly-spooch sac, where it would grow for about 11 months in a gelatinous material. In the last two months, however, the outer layer would harden up considerably for when it was laid. Afterwards the egg would he placed in an incubator for a few days until the smeet hatched.

it wouldn't have seemed that hard, but then came the symptoms and risks of the whole process. She'd have to double her sugar consumption to provide for both herself and the smeet, and the first few months would be plagued with cravings, nausea and probable mood swings. Plus, in the later months her abdomen would expand considerably and hinder mobility.

There were also higher risks of losing the smeet, better known as miscarriage, during first-time smeeting. The reason was that the Irken race had depended on cloning so much that their reproductive organs, the female's spooch-sac in particular, had withered and shrunk. A special surgery was needed to expand it back to its original size, the one Tenn just went through, but even with it there was no real guarantee the first smeeting would be successful.

"Hello, Irk to Tenn!"

Tenn blinked out of her thoughts. "W-What?"

"I asked if you feel in condition to walk."

They had already arrived back at the Tallest Tower a while ago. She had been so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice. "Yes, I can walk!" she said curtly, but her abdomen stung when she tried standing up. Tenn brought her hands to it. Tallest Purple rolled his eyes. Tenn was terribly uncomfortable when around him already, but it didn't compare to when he took her in his arms to carry her outside the ship. Wonderful, from the number one Invader reduced to _this_.

Of all the guards stationed in the hangar, Tallest Purple signaled a female one to come closer. "Take my wife to her chambers."

 _Her_ chambers? " _My_ chambers?"

Tallest Purple smirked knowingly. "Unless you wish to sleep by my side again."

"No, no! It's fine!"

Tallest Purple muttered and handed her over to the female guard. Tenn was momentarily confused until she found he wouldn't be able to touch her for at least a week until her body adapted to the new, improved size of her spooch-sac. At least a good thing had come from the bloody procedure.

To her disappointment her own living quarters were just across that of Tallest Purple's. She should have known it was too good to be true, especially when her husband silently half-forced a lekku touch from her before disappearing behind his own door. To his credit, though, it was just as big and luxurious as his. The guard carefully placed her on the ground and saluted before leaving.

Once alone, Tenn sighed in relief at the idea of sleeping alone. _Now_ she could properly enjoy the heavenly softness of the bed and the blankets. Tenn removed her robes and put on the sleeping gown, perfectly customized for her size, already left unto her wardrobe along other different attires. As the Tallest's wife she was expected to look her best.

Tenn allowed herself to fall unto the mattress. Yes, sleep was not necessary for most Irkens, but she had found it made her forget about all her problems for a good while.

She should get used to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine Purple as being the type to want an heir ASAP, especially considering how many enemies are after his head.
> 
> I am aware the title of Almighty Tallest is not passed down unto the eldest child, but rather given to the next tallest Irken alive, be it after the current one's death or simply being replaced. In this fic, however, I'm sort of combining them. The Tallest pass down the title to their tallest child, regardless of gender or birth order, but should they perish without an heir then the mantle is given to the next tallest Irken.
> 
> Some of the things regarding Irken pregnancy are partly inspired from The Breeding Project by Octopusfan13. It's a really good RaPR fic, particularly the info he/she has made up regarding an Irken pregnancy. Obviously I will not copy it, but rather try and get a better idea of how I picture an Irken pregnancy.
> 
> Well, see ya next chapter.


	3. Rouge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit... shorter compared to the other ones, but these days I've been a bit busy playing my brand new Nintendo switch and it has affected my creativity. Hopefully, it will wear off eventually.

The following days were tranquil without having to bear her Tallest's touch at night. Though just to be sure Tenn locked the door before going to sleep. He might not be able to have sex with her, but he could slip into the bed and pull her into his embrace, as she learned the second night after the surgery.

It pained Tenn to admit it, but… her new position had a good side to it. She was pampered and constantly tended to by servitude, who virtually obeyed anything she said, even jumping off a cliff (don't ask about how she knew this last part). Wherever she went all would salute and wiggle their lekkus as if she were the Tallest herself. She'd relish in her former rivals having to show respect to her under threat of being arrested for treason.

No matter the advantages, however, in Tenn's opinion the disadvantages far outweighed them. All who tended to her were irkenettes, no doubt work of her husband to make sure he'd have no 'rivals'. No matter where she went she was escorted by a dozen guards who'd shock anyone who dared stare at her for longer than ten seconds; this rule applied mostly for males. Her fellow Invaders showed respect, but other than that made no attempt to converse or interact with her at all. Not even the usually friendly and amiable Skoodge looked at her. They respected her, alright, but also feared retaliation from Tallest Purple should he suspect they were trying to 'court' her.

It was getting frustrating. She had no freedom. As an Invader she was free to do as she pleased as long as it didn't compromise her mission, but now she was surveyed every single second of the day.

The idea of what was awaiting her once the recovery week passed disgusted her. She didn't want smeets. Only the weak females borrowed their bodies to that nearly-defunct practice. She was a soldier, for Irk's sake! Part of her was terrified at the prospect of the smeeting: would it hurt? Would she actually make it alive? What if she miscarried? Would it kill her?

But perhaps what bothered her the most was the knowledge of who would be the smeet's sire. The man who forced her into this position she never wanted and was now using her as a means to obtain an heir. He'd probably discard her once he had what he wanted. Perhaps that would be the one good thing coming out of this stupid process.

Speaking of Tallest Purple, these nights he couldn't try to fertilize her she didn't see him much. After breakfast he'd vanish from the place for all day; sometimes she heard him sneaking back into his room at a very late hour. Frankly, though, she found it comforting when he wasn't around breathing on top of her neck.

The next day, however, he was absent from breakfast. She isn't worried about him, of course, she just found it odd he'd miss his curly fries time, as he called it.

"Don't worry about him, he probably got a fancy for one of Foodcourtia's breakfast meals." Red casually said as he munched on some muffins.

"I'm not worried about him," Tenn said. He can get sucked into a black hole for all I care. "He can take care of himself.' She spoke instead.

Tenn noticed Lena hadn't said anything about the matter just yet. Instead, she focused on feeding Rouge some smeet niblets, which he seemed to hate judging by how he blew a raspberry with his tongue. Then it struck her. She could ask Lena about the smeeting process. She had gone through two and lived.

After breakfast, she approached her before she could go. "Lena, may I talk to you about something?"

"What is it?"

Tenn was uncomfortable about the topic in front of Tallest Red, but nevertheless, she asked. "Smeeting."

Lena perked up her lekku. "Red, would you mind taking Rouge to his crib?"

Tallest Red groaned. "Will you take long? He never falls asleep if you're not the one who puts him to bed."

"I'm sure you can handle him for a few minutes."

Tallest Red muttered something as he was handed Rouge over. The smeet whimpered and reached out for his mother as his father carried him away. Were all smeets that clingy?

"Are you and Purple…?"

Tenn swallowed hard and nodded.

Lena gently motioned her to follow. They took a walk through the corridors and into a small living room of some sorts. It was nice and almost had a homely feeling to it if by homely you mean spacious and with expensive furniture. They sat down on the velvet couches. Oh, Irk, it was just as comfortable as the bed!

"I had the surgery to restore my reproductive spooch-sac a week ago," Tenn said but refused to go any further than that. Lena didn't seem to be aware of the circumstances under her marriage to Tallest Purple.

"I see. That means you two will start trying these days, right?" Tenn nodded again. "I know the idea of something growing inside of you doesn't seem appealing at first, but once you feel the little feet kicking you start bonding with it. And when you hold the little one for the first time, he becomes the most important thing in your life." Tenn couldn't help but note a certain shine to Lena's eyes as she spoke warmly.

"Is it as bad as the data makes it look?"

Lena sighed. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it because you need to be emotionally prepared for it," she went silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "It will be painful and hard. You will feel like the lower half of your body is splitting in half or like a… clogged tub trying to get rid of the obstruction, but I assure you the result is worth it."

It must be if it's that painful and yet you smeeted twice. Tenn thought. She appreciated the honesty, however. It wasn't easy to find these days. "Hey, by the way, do you know where Ta- Purple went?"

Lena almost looked… guilty, but she quickly regained her composure. "Wish I knew. Maybe he just wants to… be alone. He and Red might get along quite well, but sometimes even they need their distance and time for themselves."

Tenn smelled something rotten. She almost felt like Lena was hiding something. Before she could say anything else, however, Tallest Red entered the room with a panicked expression, holding his wailing smeet in his hands. He quietly mouthed 'help' to Lena. Tenn couldn't help but cover her ears while Lena quickly got to her feet to go shush her smeet. Rouge instantly jumped into his mother's embrace and crawled back into her pouch, whimpering.

Definitely clingy.

* * *

With Lena gone to tend to her own smeet, her husband apparently gone for the day and nothing to do, Tenn decided to take a look around the castle grounds. As a smeet and during her soldier days she had heard about the famous gardens but never had a chance to actually see them. After all, Irk was devoid of plant life even in the parks, all long torn off and paved to make way for the buildings.

The Tallest Tower had been standing for a long time, but there was always a debate regarding the terrains around it. Some Irkens considered the Tallest ought not to touch any sort of dirt even if it was from their own planet, while others countered that as the last vestige of Irk's nature it should be left the way it was. Tallest Miyuki was of the latter group, Tallest Brud was indifferent to it and Tallest Spork was killed by Zim's blob creature before he could make plans to tear the trees and plants down,

Tenn was glad he didn't get to. Otherwise, she might have never gotten to see a tree: she had seen trees in other worlds during her missions, but never her own homeworld's even in pictures or mental images downloaded in PAKs. Irken trees were tall with lavender trunk and maroon leaves, growing on a layer of carpet mauve grass.

Tenn's stroll led her to a long, white stone path. The sides were adorned with tall shrubs trimmed in such a way that they resembled things, such as a digestor or even a doughnut. Curious, Tenn approached one of the bushes to pluck a leaf. Even with the glove, she could almost feel the texture in the tip of her fingers.

The loud clanging of tools echoing against the ground made her lekku stand up. A few steps away she spotted an average-height Irken mumble something as he picked a primitive tool and resumed his task of trimming one of the bushes whose overgrowth had made it lose shape. Tenn usually would have ignored the shorter one, but frankly, she was so desperate to talk to anyone it overpowered her sense of superiority and aversion over the shorter ones. With decisive steps, she approached the gardener-drone. "Excuse me?"

The tool was dropped again, this time in panic as the drone realized who she was. "L-Lady Tenn!" He quickly bowed his head and waved his lekku. "P-Please forgive me for ruining your stroll with my unworthy presence! I'll be g-going now!"

"Wait, what?" Tenn stared at him in surprise. "You have nothing wrong, gardener. I just came to ask what were you doing."

The gardener seemed to relax a bit, but he was still on edge. "Oh, huh… It's my j-job to trim the plant and k-keep them from l-losing shape."

"I see," Tenn tried to think of something else to say before he could scurry away and leaver her alone with her thoughts. "So what kind of plant is this?"

"W-Well… It's a common Irkshrub, better now as Irkesis Cletorax. Back in the day, it was used to adorn long pathways like this one."

"And what shapes do you cut it into?"

By then the gardener seemed to have calmed down a bit when he realized he wasn't in trouble. "It really depends on what the Tallest fancy. Last year it was different wildlife they thought looked cool, on this occasion they want more snacks." Yup, it sounded like the Tallest, alright: first they want something, then change their minds not long after. She had been a witness to it back on the Massive one or two times, usually regarding snack flavors.

Tenn took a look at the other bushes, particularly at the bush in the shape of a Digestor. "Did you make all of these, gardener?"

"Most of them, others were trimmed by the other gardeners. They are still learning the hang of it, though, so I have to correct their mistakes before the Tallest notice." The gardener said this last part in a somewhat bitter tone.

"You!" Seemingly out of nowhere a female guard approached. Tenn perked up her lekku, but the gardener's flattened against his head and he averted his gaze downwards in complete submission. "How dare you speak to Lady Tenn, scum?"

"I'm sorry-!" the gardener didn't get to finish as he was roughly stabbed at the side with the tip of the spear.

"You're fortunate Almighty Tallest Purple is not here to properly discipline you for daring to speak to his wife, shortie. Now be gone before I actually consider reporting you."

"That was unnecessary," Tenn said with a disapproving frown as she watched her companion scurry away, picking up his bush-cutting tool as swiftly as he could.

"My apologies, ma'am, but Tallest Purple gave strict orders that no shorties be allowed near your superior presence, especially males."

Tenn narrowed her eyes. "Does the 'male' thing apply only to shorters or to all males in general?" She thought she saw the guard's lekku twitch uncomfortably.

"Um… No male is to be found talking to you regardless of height and rank. Service drones are slightly excused as long as they only ask you if you wish for a snack."

She should have known. She knew Tallest Purple was possessive, but this was ridiculous! What did he think, that she'd just swoop into the arms of any other male? Who did he take her for? True, she did not love him and had no desire to be in bed with him, but it didn't mean she'd give herself over to anyone. The only exception would have been Dren, her love and fiancée, but he was…

Anyway, changing the topic before she got teary-eyed again if it depended on her, she would have stayed a virgin until her death. But the Tallest just had to set his eyes on her precisely, and now here she was. "Do you know where my… husband has gone?" Tenn asked bitterly. If only, her status meant the guard couldn't lie to her, right?

She was wrong. "Tallest Purple has gone to deal with a… personal matter, but he should return later."

Mental note: remember Tallest Purple still outranks her in every single aspect.

* * *

That night Tenn decided to skip dinner, and she wasn't the only one. As she passed by the dining hall on the way to her own chambers she noted it empty. How weird, Tallest Red was usually in there around this time stuffing himself with food alongside Lena, but they were missing. Another reason why she wouldn't go in there to eat alone. Though she had been a loner in her soldier days as most Irkens, especially after the Invader training, ever since her PAK was reprogrammed this need to be alone disappeared, instead replaced by a desire for the company of any kind. This might be the reason she didn't mind talking with a shorter.

As she was passing by another set of doors, these ones painted in red patterns, she heard yelling coming from within. Was that Lena? Tenn momentarily panicked thinking she was being hurt, but she recalled the taller Irkenette had never seemed afraid of Tallest Red.

" _How can he do this to her_?!"

" _Lena, lower your voice_ …!"

Tenn perked up her lekku curiously. Who were they talking about? Her? Usually, she would have continued on her way; those who dared eavesdrop on the Tallest never made it alive. But she was married to Tallest Purple now, so there was nothing Tallest Red could do to her, and Lena didn't seem the type to throw people out of the airlock for the sheer pleasure of it. With this in mind, Tenn approached the door warily and raised her lekku.

" _I don't understand him! He claims to 'love' her and yet at the first chance he gets-_!"

" _What did you expect? Tenn had to recover from the surgery_ -"

" _And instead of taking care of her like a decent husband he goes-_!" There was an abrupt stop. Tenn could picture Lena clenching her fists. " _I swear, sometimes I don't understand half of the things he does!_ "

" _Look, I don't approve of what he's doing, but there's nothing we can do about it_."

" _You could try talking to him, you're his co-Tallest after all_."

Tallest Red sighed. " _You know that talking to Purple is like trying to convince_ Zim _that he's a failure_."

" _Well, do something about it. I don't like hiding this from Tenn, she's a good Irkenette and she doesn't deserve anything of what's happening to her. I don't know what on Irk Purple was thinking…_ "

" _You know how he is. If he wants something, nothing can stop him. A pity it had to be her, though, she_ was _our best Invader._ "

So they _do_ know where Tallest Purple has gone off to and were keeping it a secret. Tenn so wanted to burst into the room and confront them, but then they'd know she was eavesdropping and she _needed_ Lena on her side.

Tenn made her way back to her own bedroom, locked the door behind her and slipped into her sleeping gown before heading straight to bed. With a mental PAK-command, she turned off the lights. The only remaining light source was the moonlight coming through the window. She didn't go to sleep, however. She just lay there, waiting, her lekku twitching every now and then in search for any stimuli. The sound of the night breeze and the calm almost lulled her to sleep, but her Invader training paid off as she kept her eyelids open for what seemed like hours.

Finally, she heard it. The familiar sound of her electronic lock being hacked and overridden, then the door being slid open silently, footsteps on the carpet. He was trying no to 'wake her up'.

_Where were you?_

That's what Tenn wanted to ask, but her lips sealed shut. She didn't care what he did in his spare time as long as he stayed as far away from her as possible. As she felt his shadow on top of her, Tenn closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. It was hard when she felt two long fingers stroking her cheek and her first impulse would have been to swat it away; repressing the urge to do so sent uncomfortable shivers down her spine.

"My beautiful Tenn…" She heard her husband whisper almost sweetly. "Why can't you see how much I love you?"

For a brief moment Tenn thought he had seen through her facade and was actually talking to her, but then the fingers retreated and she heard Tallest Purple scurry away from her bed and out of her room. Once she was certain he was out of earshot Tenn released the breath she didn't know she had been holding.

He had _almost_ sounded sincere. She had no idea where he had gone, but it certainly seemed to put him in a good mood, _or_ he was too tired to try and fertilize her right then. Whatever the reason, Tenn decided she'd take advantage of this and have a peaceful sleep if only _once_. She had the feeling it would be the only one she'd have in a _long_ time.

She turned out to be right. A while later she was awakened by whimpering. Tenn opened her eyes and found a familiar pair of cyan orbs on top of her bed. Tenn rubbed her eyes; it was day already? The sunlight coming through her window and unto her face told her everything. Once her vision adjusted to the light, she looked down at the smeet. Rouge was whimpering and looked like he'd cry at any moment now. How did he get here? _Why_ was he here, to begin with?

What to do now? What was one supposed to do with smeets? "There, there, it's okay…." Tenn said awkwardly, carefully picking him up in her hands. Rouge crawled down her arm and into her belly. Then he started to scratch her robe, almost as if looking for… Oh. "Come on, little guy, I'll take you to your mama," Tenn whispered. She avoided speaking loudly to void frightening him into wailing. She wasn't sure she'd be this patient if he cried.

Tenn had to go all the way to Rouge's nursery, which isn't too far from Tallest Red and Lena's own bedchamber. Its décor differed noticeably from the rest of the castle, mostly because of the smeet's particular sleeping place-later she'd learn it was called a cradle- and other types of furniture she didn't recognize, most notable a chair that didn't have any hovering technology and instead had curved bands on the bottom of the legs. Curious, Tenn took a closer look at it. When she touched it, it leaned backward, but instead of falling it swayed back forward on its own. What was the purpose of it?

Perhaps it was a customized chair, but for what purpose did they want it to sway back and forth?

"What are you doing?"

Tenn jumped, earning a surprised squeal from Rouge. Tallest Red was on the door frame, looking like he had a rough awakening. He was wearing a crimson sleeping robe instead of his usual tallest armor and was actually _walking_ on a pair of slippers.

"M-My Tallest, I didn't mean to intrude," Tenn stuttered nervously. "It's just… Your son somehow made his way into my chambers, and I figured I'd bring him back…"

Tallest Red only sighed and took a hand to his temple, muttering something about what he was going to do with the smeet. Then he looked at her. "Tenn, really, you don't need to be so formal with me anymore. We might not be _complete_ equals, but you aren't way beneath me in rank anymore. You can call me Red, and I'd suggest you start calling Purple by name too. It quite of… bothers him that his wife still acts are if you were complete strangers."

 _Technically, we are._ Tenn thought bitterly.

"As for _you_ , young man..." Tallest Red took Rouge from her hands, holding him up to his face with a frown. "What have we told you about climbing out of your crib? You could easily get hurt." He sighed when Rouge stuck out his tongue at him with an undignified squeak. "I swear, I'll have to watch my back when he grows up."

Tenn just stared at the scene rather baffled. Back in the day, she had seen Tallest Red with his son in a few broadcasts, but never in such a personal way. Then Tallest Red seemed to recall she was there. "What are you looking at?" He asked her with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

"N-Nothing," Tenn said quickly.

The frown on his face disappeared. "So he found all the way to your room?" Tenn nodded. "Interesting." Tallest Red placed Rouge back on the crib, tucking him in. "And you, stay in there."

Rouge purred in delight as he snuggled into his blankets.

Tenn had to admit this was… cute. She had never been fond of smeets, finding them noisy and smelly, but then again she got this impression because she had never seen one so close, instead hearing complaints from fellow soldiers who happened to see one during a tantrum or who needed a 'diaper change'. This was the first time she actually interacted with one, and a natural born one, no less. Her lekku twitched unconsciously as she stared at the sleeping Rouge, who'd purr and shift in his sleep every few seconds.

"What is... Interesting?" Tenn couldn't help but ask.

"Rouge usually doesn't like strangers, and yet he seems to have taken a liking to you." Tallest Red shrugged. "Well, Tenn, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed."

Tenn stayed behind for a little longer, captivated by the sight of the napping smeet, before following suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we didn't see much of Purple in this chapter, but I promise you we'll be seeing much more of him in the next chapter. You'll see what I mean.


	4. A Tallest's Burden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, remember when I said we'd be seeing more of Purple in this chapter? It's because this one will be in his perspective. I'm still in between dedicating whole chapters to one single perspective or switching in-between perspectives in the chapters like I tend to do. If you got any suggestions regarding it, I'd appreciate some feedback on it too.
> 
> Enjoy!

_"How can I please My Tallest?"_

_He grinned at the pleasure drone right in front of him, motioning her to come closer. Her body language irradiated complete and total submission, so unlike the wild, tough Irkenette that had stolen his heart. Oh, well, she would have to do for now. "I've got a proposition for you, my dear."_

_"Proposition?"_

_"I will give you a rather generous tip if you'd do something for me."_

_Her fuchsia eyes lit up. Pleasure drones had little to no income, so naturally, when you offered them a big bone they became blindly obedient like canids. "W-What is it?"_

_He pulled her close by the waist and leaned in closer, spreading out his PAK-legs. "Let me call you Tenn."_

…

If there was something Tallest Purple was famous for, it was that he always got what he wanted.

This dated back to his days as a soldier. Due to his naturally tall height and prowess in combat, matched perhaps only by his co-Tallest even back then, he had the privilege and was showed favoritism by his superiors. Not to brag, but he had earned the praise through his own merit and impeccable record. So this meant he and Red always got to pick and customize their own weapons and ships.

This became more common as they ascended in ranks and height, but after becoming Tallest everything changed. Every order he gave was carried out, no matter how hard, dangerous or even ridiculous it was. His wishes were orders, nothing was questioned and in the slim chance that it was the infractor could be executed if he so wished.

Naturally all of his status and achievements, not to mention height, often made him appealing to females. In his Elite days, he never thought of females; they were to be considered a distraction, though he did find one or two attractive. It wasn't until his ascension to the throne of Irk that the filter removing 'sexual appetite' was removed and all the repressed instincts returned tenfold, nearly overwhelmingly him. The first time he tried it, the pleasure was good. So good he repeated it time and time again whenever he felt the urge.

Regarding romantic love, regrettably the one time he had fallen into its claws he got hurt, so he vowed he'd never, _ever_ , go through that humiliation again. He couldn't say the same for Red, though, who had already found his soulmate and they were already blessed with two kids.

Then Invader Tenn completed her mission. Purple could have sworn his heart had started to beat again when he saw her stepping triumphantly for the first Organic Sweep cannon. After so many years she had grown taller and more beautiful, not to mention the wildfire burning in her was as bright as always. At that moment he knew he had to have her.

Sadly things didn't go according to plan thanks to her stubbornness, but well, hopefully, she'd eventually grow accustomed to her new role and accept his affections, right? And what a better way for that to happen than having their very own smeet? After watching Red and Lena have their own, part of him wanted to have smeets. Besides, the last time Zim called he claimed he and his 'hyooman mate' were thinking of having their own offspring. Irken pride kicked in. Red could get away with having kids before Purple, but not _Zim_.

Until Tenn recovered from the recent surgery enough to try it, however, Purple needed his 'dose', so at night he started sneaking out and fly all the way to Orgydia, where the loveliest pleasure drones of different species could be found. Of course, he'd rather make it with his own kind, but every now and then he'd experiment.

Purple usually was very careful in what he did, but this time he got careless. By the time he finally awoke his PAK-clock told him he had slept all day.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

He technically jumped out of bed, tangling his legs in the sheets and tripping unto the floor. He hissed in pain, but quickly got back on his feet and started dressing up in his armor.

There was a groan from the bed. "My Tallest?"

"I'm in a bit of a hurry, woman, so I'll send you the payment later!" He simply said, putting on a dark hooded cloak(he couldn't afford to be recognized here) and hurrying out the door. The luxurious suite was in the nicer part of Orgydia: after all, the Almighty Tallest had very high standards for accommodation. Purple made his way down through the elevator and to a zhook runner. He wasn't stupid enough to bring his own personal vessel, after all.

There's not much to say about the flight back to Irk: it only took ten minutes in hyperdrive after all. He arrived well past eleven o clock, pretty late. Hopefully, Tenn would be asleep already and she wouldn't know nor ask any questions.

Purple landed the cruiser at the hangar. As soon as he stepped outside he was met with salutes and lekku wiggling. Good, they knew their place. "Where is my wife?" He asked as he pulled back his hood.

"Lady Tenn retired to her chambers an hour ago, My Tallest."

Phew! At the very least _something_ had gone according to plan. "Take the cruiser back, and not a word to Lady Tenn about this."

"Yes, sir."

Purple slid back into the tower and went straight towards his room, only to stop and glance at Tenn's door. Was she doing okay? He hadn't seen her much all week due to his… escapades. The recovery week had passed already. It wouldn't hurt to take a quick look, right? With this in mind, he walked across the hall and towards the door leading to Tenn's bedchambers. She had locked it again. Really, didn't she learn anything? Purple only had to type a little code of his own in the control panel to override the lock.

Tenn was sleeping, just like he imagined. Purple took silent steps towards the edge of her bed. Her face was serene, making her look even more beautiful than usual. He was tempted to lay down next to her and sleep by her side tonight. Those females from Orgydia had pleased him, alright, but they weren't Tenn. He wanted her. Her smell, her warmth, her touch…

Unfortunately, Tenn hadn't been very… happy. Their first night together hadn't exactly been like he would have liked; they consummated their union, that's right, but she never returned any of his caresses or shows of affection. She just let him have his way, depriving him of her lovely eyes all the time, her body stiff and trembling. It would have been a better experience for both of them if Tenn hadn't been so difficult.

Purple found himself stroking Tenn's cheek tenderly, forlornly staring down at her. Her skin was so soft and warm. "My beautiful Tenn… Why can't you see how much I love you?" he whispered sadly. He still could not understand it. He was the Almighty Tallest, the most powerful person on Irk, no, the entire universe. Any female would sell her PAK for a single glance from him. Why didn't Tenn? Oh, well, she'd soften up when they have their kids. Just look at Lena. After some contemplating, Purple decided to let her rest. He'd have more time to think about _that_ later.

Besides, he was tired.

With this in mind, he left Tenn's room quietly and went back to his own, making sure to lock the door again. To his confusion, the lights didn't automatically turn on as soon as he stepped inside even as he sent a PAK command or snapped his fingers. This could only happen for two reasons: either a small malfunction or…

"Pur, we need to talk."

Another lecture from Red. "Can it wait until tomorrow? I just want to drop dead on my bed."

Red crossed his arms. "You would literally have dropped dead right now if Lena was here instead of me."

Purple felt a shiver run down his spine. If there was one woman he'd never dare cross, it was Red's wife. She was untouchable and she knew it. She was perhaps the only Irkenette he actually respected other than Red. "What's with Lena?"

"She figured out what you've been doing this week and she's not happy."

"So what?"

"Purple, you should be careful about what you do with Tenn. I mean, blackmailing her into marrying you is one thing, but-"

"Don't," Purple said sternly. "Not here, not while she's in proximity."

Red rolled his eyes. "She's in the opposite room, sleeping."

"Don't forget she was trained as an Invader. She could kill in her sleep if she wanted, remember?"

"You don't need to remind me of that particular event," Red shivered. Purple smirked. It was fun to toy with Red. "I'm serious, Purple. If you do feel for her as you claim, you should actually try to show it."

"I already tried it and we saw how well that worked out."

"Well, if you hadn't been so rash and waited at least a year before courting her as I told you-"

"I wasn't going to risk her falling for someone else!"

Red sighed. "Look, I might not agree with half the things you do and I know it's your life, but we both know who knows ladies better."

Purple huffed indignantly and turned away. "Look, you know how much I enjoy your sermons, but I'm really tired," he got rid of his cloak and headed towards his bed. "Besides, I thought you mentioned the Control Brains were sending the final results of the new Invaders tomorrow." He almost laughed when Red opened his eyes widely.

"Shoot!"

Once Red ran out of his bedroom, Purple made sure to lock the door just in case.

* * *

The next morning he could fell Tenn's gaze on him when they met outside on the corridor and then during breakfast. His suspicions had been right, she wasn't really sleeping last night. Ha! Purple 1, Red 0. Speaking of Red, he almost looked paranoid today, no doubt nervous about the test results. Admittedly, Purple was quite nervous about the results himself. Would Ilk's name be there? Lena seemed to be taking it more calmly, but he could tell she was also on edge. The only two people who had no idea of what was going on were Tenn and Rouge. The latter didn't seem to care, he happily nibbled on some cheese puffs in Lena's pouch.

Tenn, on the other hand..."Is something the matter?" She asked after an awkward silence.

"Oh, right, you're new here." Purple chuckled, serving himself a big slice of the earthen dessert known as cheesecake, his favorite one. "The Control Brain on Devastis will be sending the final results for the Elite tests." He noticed how Tenn gripped her fork, almost snapping it in half. Guess it brought back memories.

"And my baby's name just might be in it!" Red cried out. He hadn't touched any of the food he had accumulated in his plate. Purple couldn't blame him for it; since their own Academy days, Red had the habit of accumulating food he didn't intend to eat when he was nervous about something.

"Your other child, right? Her name was Ilk, right?"

"The best Academy student since me and Purple!" Red said proudly. "And soon the best Invader of her generation!"

"Red," Lena said sternly. "I think that matter is for the... Control Brains to decide." Purple saw through the sugarcoating. Lena did not like the idea of her smeet being sent to a hostile planet surrounded by enemies. Red, of course, wanted the opposite. He had heard a few of the arguments they had because of this clashing opinion.

Purple glanced at Tenn's now vacant expression. Definitely going down the memory lane. He decided to give her some space for the time being and resumed the conversation. "Well, she did have the highest scores in all the other scores. All she has to do is do perfectly in the Elite test and she might have a chance at being assigned a planet."

"She will do fine. She's got my superior tall DNA, after all." Lena coughed, making Red wince. "I mean, our superior DNA."

Squeak!

Purple chuckled when he noticed Rouge was flailing his little arms in Lena's pouch while giving upset squeaks. "You shouldn't forget about your other smeet, Red."

"He just wants another cheese puff, don't you? Don't you?" Lena tickled Rouge's belly, earning a small giggling fit. Then she handed him another cheese puff, which he nibbled on almost ravenously.

Tenn still had not reacted. Okay, he better bring her back before she got stuck there. He had heard that could happen. Purple grabbed a small cherry from a nearby dessert and flung it at Tenn's head. It came into contact with her eye. Oops. "What was that for?!" She snapped at him, rubbing her ocular orb.

"You went blank for about five minutes," Purple told her. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"I'm fine, My Tallest."

Purple sighed in bitter disappointment. For how long was she going to act like this? He refrained himself from telling her again she didn't need to call him like that anymore: knowing Tenn, it would be a waste of saliva. He'd tell her tonight. Purple felt a shiver of pleasure down his spine as he imagined himself touching his lovely wife again. Hopefully, the Control Brains wouldn't take long with that list.

"I've always been curious, how exactly do you pick which Invader to send to a planet?" Tenn asked, changing the topic.

"The Control Brains usually take care of that. During the examinations, they not only test a potential Invader's capability, but they also keep check on their combat style and abilities. This is what determines which Invader is fit to what kind of environment, according to the information on the planets marked for conquest the Control Brains have at the time. Of course, height also affects the final result." Purple explained. He heard Lena mutter something about this last part. "Hey, Red, speaking of which, what are we going to do about Sobr?"

"You're not thinking of sending another right now, are you?" Lena asked in alarm.

Red only shrugged. "In my personal opinion, the previous Invader assigned wasn't up to the task. He wasn't that tall. If we had assigned that other guy… what was his name? Invader Grapa, yeah. I bet he would have been able to do the job."

"Even if it had been Larb, there was still the possibility they would have still discovered him. Sobrekt are not gullible, how do you think they have been able to resist the Empire for so long?"

"Come on, Lena, I bet if they didn't have those genetic hybrids of theirs, things would turn out differently. I'd like to see how they'd fare without one of those black lizards!"

"I agree with him on that one," Purple took a long slurp of soda. "They depend too much on their hybrekts. Perhaps we could point it out to the next Invader assigned there and let him take care of the rest. How was the previous one busted, by the way?"

"From what I heard and the information the Control Brains managed to retreat from his… PAK," Red shifted uncomfortably. "He tried to take an 'Indokuro' for testing, but the thing apparently saw through the disguise and attacked him non-fatally. The Sobrekt discovered him and decided to send his head and PAK as a 'warning'."

"Sweet Irk, couldn't they have sent a note like everybody else? I still have nightmares about it!"

Suddenly Tenn stood up. "Excuse me." She averted her gaze and swiftly made her way out the door. Purple was confused for a moment until he recalled which Invader had been sent to Sobr. The Dren guy… Oh, shit.

"What are you waiting for? Go after her." Red made a gesture to the door.

"I'm not done eating!"

"You wanna earn points with Tenn? Go see if she's okay and comfort her. Ladies love crying on a male's shoulder."

"There are so many things wrong with that, that I don't even know where to begin," Lena said with a frown.

" _Squeak_!" Rouge seemed to agree with his mama.

Purple rolled his eyes and left his seat to follow Tenn. He didn't have to go far, she was a bit further down the corridor, her back turned on him, leaning against the wall with her shoulder. He heard a sob. Sweet Irk, she was crying. What was he supposed to do now? He sucked at comforting people, he always left it to Lena. From Red's experiences, when females cried they were even more sensitive to anything, so he had to pick his words carefully.

"Are you okay?" Was the first thing he thought of.

Tenn's lekku perked up in alarm. "I'm f-fine," she said, wiping her eyes. "Why don't you go back to talking shit about Dren?" She added bitterly.

"It wasn't my intention to offend you or his memory, my dear Tenn. We merely forgot he had been the one assigned to Sobr."

She scoffed. "Right."

Damn it, he was losing her. Think of something, Purple… Maybe he should start stimulating his brain and PAK circuits more often instead of just lounging around so he'd start having ideas that actually worked. "Tenn, look at me," No reaction. "Tenn," when she didn't move, he reached out and gently turned her head around so she'd be facing him.

Her beautiful fuchsia eyes were glossy and still had some tears in them. He hated seeing her like this, so unlike the Tenn he knew and loved so much. "Please don't cry. It pains me to see you sad." He whispered, wiping a lone tear away with his thumb.

She turned away again. "That's pretty ironic, considering these days you've been doing everything in your power to make me feel as miserable as possible."

He frowned. There she was again. "Allow me to remind you that since you got here I've given you no reason to complain. You have an army of servants at your beck and call the twenty-four hours a day, a very comfortable bed... Should I list everything down? It's going to take a while."

"You think that makes up for what you want to put me through? Or the fact that you already altered my body without my consent?"

Before he could think of a proper argument to counter, he received a PAK notification informing him the Control Brains had finally sent the results. Thank Irk, he had no idea of how to retort to that. With a deep frown he straightened up to full height; he noticed Tenn flinching lightly. Good. She might still be feisty, but she still knew her place. "We will talk about this later." He whispered with the most serious voice he could muster as he turned away and down the corridor.

* * *

What was he going to do with that woman? What else did she want from him?! He had given her everything she could have asked for and she still put a figurative wall between them! Perhaps some curly fries would do the trick? Or if the problem was that Dren guy's memory he could sneak into her room and erase all memories of him from both her PAK and organic brain… Nah, too troublesome.

Purple stared into his cherry-flavored soft drink with a thoughtful frown, the fingers on his free hand drumming unto the couch. What else could he do to win her over? Gifts wouldn't work, that had been his most used tactic the first courting months and judging from her… rejection (Mental note, erase that particular memory from his PAK) it wouldn't work now either. He tried looking for information as to how to court a female, but most of it involved giving colorful boxes filled with empty carbohydrates or the dead reproductive organs of plants in a vase filled with water. Too simple. Perhaps he could ask Lena for advice, but quickly discarded the idea; the last thing he wanted right now was a sermon from her, especially after Red's visit the previous night.

Ouch. There was a brief painful sensation on the side of his head, and he found the cause on the couch a few inches away from him: an empty soda can. Purple glared at the perpetrator. "What was that for?!"

"I've been talking to you for the past twenty minutes and you're not listening," Red said coldly with his arms crossed.

"I'm listening!"

"What did I say, then?"

Think fast, Purple! "Zim's head is stupid?"

Red snorted. "That was a lucky guess." He went back to scrolling down the Irkpad.

"So, how did it go for Ilkie?"

"Still looking, don't pressure me! Here's the Top Scores list… Ha! I knew it, she's at the top! She's grown even taller than the last time we talked to her! Now let's see if she made it to the next Great Assigning…" As he read, his face went pale and the grin disappeared little by little.

"Red? What is it, didn't she make it? Now who's the one ignoring me!" To Purple's confusion, Red didn't respond. He merely came to sit on the other side of the couch with a vacant expression, letting the Irkpad fall to the ground. Purple grunted and picked it up.

**Name: ILK**

**Gender: FEMALE**

**Height: 6.8 feet**

**Test results: 10,000 of 10,000. EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS.**

**Observations: Natural-born Irken, sired by Tallest Red and smeeted by Taller Lena.** **PAK** **had to be put when enrolled. Up to now, her organic brain has synced with the assigned** **PAK** **very well. Personality has remained mostly intact. Can follow commands, but will voice her disagreement. Notably stubborn but strong-willed. Capable of showing empathy and concern for other individuals regardless of species, height or rank.**

**Career: Invader.**

**In spite of her unique traits regarding fraternity with other species, Irken Ilk has shown great observational skills. Additionally, she's capable of adapting to any environment through observational learning. Because of this, it's been decided she'll be assigned to work as an Invader in the next Great Assigning.**

**Assigned planet: SOBR.**

"Shit." No wonder Red had reacted like that. He wanted her to be an Invader, alright, but he never imagined her first assignment would the planet that had sent them a bloody head (and PAK).

"I have to do something, they can't send her there! It's too dangerous and she's fresh out of the academy! What if those lizards do something to her! Lena's going to kill me!"

Purple just stared at his co-Tallest as he paced across the room. "Why would she kill you? You're not the one who chose to assign her there."

"I was the one who insisted to the Control Brains to make Ilk an Invader. I promised Lena it would be okay…"

"Chill out, Red, it's Ilk we're talking about! I'm sure she'll be fine- Red, what are you doing? Red? Red!" Too late. He was already dialing in the monitor. Purple took a slurp from his drink. This wasn't going to end well.

The screen turned black as a pair of narrow, glowing fuchsia eyes appeared on it. " **WE WILL ASSUME YOU'RE NOT… COMFORTABLE WITH THE RESULTS.** " The Control Brain's voice sent shivers down Purple's spine. Wow. It really knows them well.

"I think there's been a mistake, sirs," Red said. "The report said my daughter Ilk was assigned as an Invader-"

" **AS PER YOUR SUGGESTION, IF WE RECALL**."

"No, no, I have no problem with that. I'm happy she made it! It's her assigned planet that worries me."

" **AH, YES. GIVEN HER EXCEPTIONAL SCORES AND SKILL WE DEEMED HER FIT FOR SUCH A DIFFICULT PLANET.** "

"I beg to differ, sirs. Of course, she has the skill, she has my superior DNA and notable height, but I think Sobr is out of her league. Let's not forget she's still… new to this. Besides, I don't think it's wise to send another Invader to Sobr right now."

The eyes narrowed. " **ARE YOU QUESTIONING OUR DECISION?** "

"No, sirs. I just wish to express my concern that it might not be a wise move. The Sobrekt are on high alert ever since Invader Dren was discovered, security has been doubled on their homeworld and their affiliated colony planets. Sending another Invader right now would be like adding more coal to the fire. I suggest sending Invader Ilk to another planet, an easier one so she'll gain experience-"

" **HOW CURIOUS** **,** " the brains chuckled. " **IF IT WERE ANY OTHER YOU WOULDN'T CARE TO BE SENDING THEM TO THEIR DEATH. WE WARNED YOU THAT WE WOULD NOT ACCEPT ANY SORT OF PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR IRKEN ILK JUST BECAUSE OF HER BLOOD RELATION TO YOU.** "

"But sirs…!"

" **YOUR PETITION IS DENIED. IRKEN INVADER ILK WILL BE ASSIGNED TO SOBR IN THE NEXT GREAT ASSIGNING. SHOULD YOU TRY TO CHANGE OUR VERDICT, IRKEN ILK WILL BE RE-ENCODED.** " The transmission ended.

Purple stared at the screen, then at his co-Tallest, who stood there, agape and with a look of utter dismay. "Well, it could have been worse."

Red brought his hand to his temples. "Lena is going to kill me…"

"Should I write your epitaph?"

"How can you be so calm about this?!"

"Red, chill out. Ilkie's the best cadet of her generation, plus the tallest one. She'll be fine."

"Don't complain when your kids get into such a situation and I act as if it didn't matter!"

Purple ignored him even as he yelled for someone to bring him Vortian fire-whiskey and instead went back to watching his own drink. It wasn't that he didn't care, he merely had faith in Ilk's capabilities. Since she was a smeet she had shown great promise. She even found the way back to the ship during a camping trip, and she didn't even have a PAK at that time. Yeah, Sobr was a dangerous target, but he was certain she would succeed. She wasn't like that Dren guy, she was patient and took her time to properly learn beforehand.

He found his grip unconsciously clenching the vase, partly spilling its contents. It was the second time that Invader Dren had soured his mood, even if unintentionally by the mere mention of his name. It was because of his memory that his wife hadn't accepted his affections; even while dead his shadow still drew a thick line between him and Tenn.

Okay, putting the issue of the Dren guy aside, for the time being, his thoughts went back to the issue at hand. When his kids… He was already imagining himself panicking over his smeet scrapping a knee or getting their first assignment in the military, while Tenn… What would Tenn do in those situations? Maybe she would send him to sleep on the couch, blaming him for what happened. Sounds like her, alright.

* * *

After a few hours of watching Red complain, then accompany him to tell Lena the news… and being used as a live shield when she reacted the way both anticipated, all Purple wanted was to go to bed… to Tenn's bed. Besides, Lena had sent Red to sleep on the couch, so Purple offered his co-Tallest his bedchambers for the night now that he wouldn't occupy it tonight.

"Chill out, she'll have calmed down by tomorrow."

"Thanks for lending me your bed. There's no way I was going to sleep on that horrible couch."

"Just admit you love my mattress."

"Please, we have all the same mattresses."

"Mine has extra stuffing."

Red rolled his eyes. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

Purple smirked. "I better not keep my lovely wife waiting."

He found Tenn already in her bedchambers, just coming out of the bathroom, naked. How blissfully convenient. "What are you doing here?" she hissed, trying to tuck the towel around her body closer and hide as much skin as possible. She looked so cute when she blushed!

He chuckled. "The week's up, my dear Tenn. You know what that means…" he let his bathrobe fall to the ground, exposing his mildly scarred torso.

Tenn swallowed hard, narrowing her eyes. "So _now_ you care? This entire time I never saw you around."

"Aw, so you missed me?"

"Of course not. I don't care what you do in your free time, I merely find it quite cynical on your part to claim to love me and then out me aside like a toy you grow bored with."

He was sorely disappointed by the reply, but the grin never left his face as he slowly cornered Tenn towards the bed. That fire in her eyes was still as ferocious as ever! His male part tingled in arousal. "Well, we can fix it…" his PAK-legs emerged just as he pushed the Irkenette unto the bed, then formed a 'cage' around her before she could try to escape.

Tenn's lekku were flat against her head and her entire body was trembling, but that defiant glare never left her face. It made her even more appealing, much more than the weak, submissive pleasure drones he had seen all week. He pinned down her arms before she could try to strike him.

"Come on, my dear. Why do you have to make it harder?" he stroked her face tenderly. "It would be easier for the both of us if you cooperated… I can make you the happiest of women, and I only ask for one thing in return..."

"Over my corpse," Tenn growled at him, baring her teeth with a low hiss. "You may take my body and use it as a toy, you may impregnate me as many times as you want, but you will never make me love you."

Damn woman, still as stubborn as always. But then again, he loved challenges. "Very well, then…" He kissed her forehead and got off her. "Good night, my dear!" That said, he lay down next to her, turned his back on her and fell asleep. He imagined Tenn's confused expression, but also her relief that he had 'changed his mind'.

He _could_ have made her his again if he wanted, but... it didn't feel right. He wanted her to return his caresses and kisses, but judging from the first time, that would never happen if he outright _forced_ himself unto her. From what he researched about sex when the Control Brains activated that feature on his and Red's coronation day, non-consensual one was not a good way to begin a relationship. He'd have to win her over the old-fashioned way.

If there was something Tallest Purple was famous for, it was that he always got what he wanted.

Well, right now he wanted Tenn's love all for himself. And he would have it even if it took him a lifetime.


	5. Return to the Massive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the four Tallest return to the Massive, Tenn gets used and for the first time enjoys her new privileges, at least for a while. Purple makes a rather 'childish' comeback.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, everyone! Thank you all for your reviews and your support on this!

The position of Tallest is perhaps the most desired one in the whole Irken Empire. Every single Irken, be it the youngest smeet with enough understanding to know the importance of the role, or the tallest general (not tall enough for the dreamed role, though) with sols of experience in battle tactics and warfare. The power, wealth, being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want, the free snacking, and many other privileges brought by the rank. All Irkens often dreamed of having a massive growth spurt and surpassing the current Tallest in height or at the very least equal them, which meant they'd automatically be promoted to Tallest and join them in the lap of luxury.

However, great privileges often come with greater responsibilities hand-by-hand. The weight of the entire Empire rests upon the Tallest's shoulders, it is their duty to make sure it remained as powerful and mighty as ever, so they couldn't afford to make any mistakes. Those who did didn't last very long. They have to keep a perpetual image of strength and perfection. Never falter. Never show weakness. Never, for one second, doubt themselves. The respect of the masses depends on this.

Then there's the issue with the Control Brains. They take big decisions, while the Tallest merely display them to the public. They were not that close-minded, they could be reasoned with, but whenever they make a verdict, under no circumstances could it be changed (though there were minor exceptions, such as improved height, as was the case with Invader Larb). In a sense, the Tallest were bound and gagged to the Control Brains' decisions; they had given them power and could just as easily strip it away.

As Purple noted bitterly at times, sometimes he found being a Tallest was… inconvenient. When duty calls, it calls. Because of this, he had no time to spend much as time with his beautiful Tenn as he would have liked, as the final results of Devastis had arrived, which meant the next Great Assigning would take place in a week or so, in turn meaning they had to depart for Conventia ASAP.

Then again, perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing. He and Tenn would be stuck on the _Massive_ together, with little to no place where she could run off to avoid him, and they'd have to share bedchambers. He just couldn't wait to see her face when she figured it out; there was something about her that made her look cute when upset.

"You don't really live here much, do you?"

Purple was brought out of his thoughts. Tenn had asked him a question in a blunt, dry tone, but he caught the tiny hint of curiosity in it. He chuckled. "Not really."

"That's sad."

"Frankly, I prefer flying around the universe in the _Massive_ than being stuck here without doing anything. It gets boring, eventually."

"You don't give that impression."

"Believe me, Tenn, there are lots of things you are yet to know about me if only you'd get to know me better."

Tenn grunted and stepped further away from him. Purple sighed. Guess she was still sore about last night's little 'prank'. Before he could think of something else to talk about the doors to the hangar opened and Lena stepped out. Uh-oh. Lekku stiff. Eyes cold. Hands clenched into fists. Rouge's head, or even his lekku, weren't sticking out. It could only mean one thing. His suspicions were confirmed when Red followed suit seconds later, looking like he hadn't had a good night. "Come on, Lena, let's talk about this…!"

"I don't want to hear it, Red!" Lena snapped back as she stepped into the zhook cruiser that would take them to the _Massive_. Red sighed.

"She's still mad at you, isn't she?"

"Oh, no, we're fine! Everything's good, everything's colored blue!"

"What's going on? What happened?" Tenn asked, her voice devoid of that hostility she usually used on him because she was talking to Red.

"Let's say Lena is not happy with the planet assigned to our daughter, and she's pissed that we can't do anything about it without compromising her future."

"Where was she assigned to?"

Purple made a signal to Red not to respond and quickly sent Tenn a PAK-mail. " _She was assigned to Sobr_." Tenn's expression became grim. Yup, she got the message.

It didn't take long to receive a reply. " _Why did you have to tell me through PAKmail? Couldn't you have just told me?_ "

Purple rolled his eyes. Speaking of ingratitude. " _I'm saving your beautiful ass. In case you haven't noticed, Lena is not precisely in a good mood today and mentioning the cause right in front of her is plain stupid_."

"Are you two coming or what?" Lena's voice echoed from within the cruiser. She definitely didn't sound happy.

The flight to the _Massive_ was, unsurprisingly, short. It helped that the ship, alongside most of the Armada, was already in the atmosphere, ready to depart as soon as the Tallest were on board. Purple had to say, he felt quite nostalgic once they got off the cruiser and back unto the familiar hangar, soldiers waiting in line and saluting. He didn't know if it was because he had actually missed blowing entire worlds up, or the snacking taking part while that happened. Purple wished he could go straight to his chambers and catch up with Tenn on the comfortable mattress, but sadly he and Red had the obligation to go to the bridge to make sure everything was working, give orders to depart and eat something. He was hungry.

"You!" Red pointed to a random soldier and beckoned him to get closer. "Escort my wife and Lady Tenn to our sleeping quarters!"

The guard saluted and stood there expectantly. Lena said nothing as she went to stand just behind him, but Purple grabbed Tenn by the shoulder before she could follow suit. "Aren't you giving me a kiss, sweetheart?" Tenn looked like she wanted to strangle him, but she quietly lifted her lekku for him to touch with his own. Sweet Irk, how he loved the sensation! "I'll see you at dinner, my dear!" he waved amiably at Tenn as she followed Lena and the escort away into the many corridors.

"Really? That's the best you can think of? 'See you at dinner, my dear'?"

"We're not going to see them for the rest of the day. Any better ideas?"

"It's hard in your case, considering your 'wife' will actually enjoy the time she's away from you."

"Hey! You're the one to talk when Lena doesn't want to see your picture either!"

"Um, My Tallest…" Both Irkens glared down at the technician who dared interrupt their argument. "Sorry to interrupt you, sirs, b-but… We're ready to depart, just waiting for you."

Purple exchanged a glance with Red. Both nodded and headed towards the bridge.

* * *

Tenn never imagined she would ever be inside the Tallest's personal quarters. They looked almost like the mini-portable version of the Tallest Tower. Wide and luxurious bedchambers and bathroom and a snack bar. She was almost excited to be there until she took notice of something: there were only two bedrooms, each with king-sized beds meant for two people. Her squeedly-spooch dropped when she realized what this implied.

It's almost as if the universe had a sort of conspiracy to make her life as miserable as possible! Or maybe it was the thing called karma Zim once talked about. It's an earthen cause-effect spiritual concept in which the intent and action of an individual influence the future. In other words, what happens to someone is a consequence of a certain action in their past. Was this 'karma' for what she did to the Meekrob?

Tenn shook her head. What a stupid thought. Such a thing did not exist. She continued munching on the cheesy puffs she took from the snack bar; these were even better than the ones found in the kitchen. She also found a jumbo-sized bag, but she guessed those belonged to her 'husband' and left them untouched.

Lena was on the couch. There was a vacant expression on her face. Her gaze was locked to the front, but she wasn't focused on anything in particular. Rouge was by her feet playing with some colorful blocks with characters on them. Tenn figured she could offer some support.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she came to sit down next to Lena. "Purple told me about… your daughter… She was assigned to Sobr."

"Of all the planets she could have been sent to, it had to be that one…" Lena whispered. Her lekku were flat against her head.

Tenn tried to think of something to say to reassure her, but the truth was that even mentioning that place made her want to smash the nearest thing available against the wall. Dren had been killed there. And he was an experienced Invader. How long would a newbie-no offense for Lena-last there?

"She didn't want to…"

Tenn's lekku twitched. "Excuse me?"

"Ilk didn't… She didn't feel like she was cut up for being an Invader," Lena sighed sadly. "But Red has always wished that she become one. 'She has the skill and height for the job', he said. And my little Ilk all she ever wanted was to make her 'daddy' proud…"

"Couldn't she be given another planet? The Tallest reassigned Larb from Blorch to Vort because he gained a few inches…"

"The Control Brains won't allow it. No special treatment, they say. They will re-encode Ilk if Red and Purple try to change her assignment."

Lena took a hand to her mouth. "What if something happens to her? The sobrekt are savages and they can't be as easily fooled. They will be on high alert after Invader Dren was discovered," a sob escaped her. "I don't know what I'd do if… I don't think they'd send… a second time…!"

Tenn could clearly see the fear and anguish. She had heard Taller Lena wasn't prone to aggressiveness or violence like most Irkens, but she never imagined she'd be this sensitive. Then again, it's her daughter they were talking about. It's only natural she'd be worried about her wellbeing, right? At least that's what she heard. It was something that came with motherhood; females who chose to bear offspring had a very strong attachment to their smeets and were known to go into a deadly rampage should they get hurt in any way. Tenn found it weak to get attached to a smeet when there were high chances of it getting killed in its first assignment, but who was she to judge?

"I'm sorry, Lena. if there was something I could do…"

Lena's lekku perked up."There _is_ something you could do." she said, turning towards her.

Tenn blinked. "W-What is it?" She felt a shiver down her spine when Lena turned towards her, looking almost hopeful.

"You were an experienced Invader yourself, weren't you? You conquered Meekrob, after all, and that planet's threat level equals that of Sobr."

"Yes, I did." Tenn couldn't help but puff out her chest proudly.

"Do you think you could give Ilk some mentorship while she's there? I'm sure she'd have higher chances of succeeding if an experienced soldier like you could guide her. I wouldn't be asking this of you if I didn't think it could work out."

"But how can I help her? I'm not sure my 'beloved' husband will let me go with her."

"You could talk to her before she leaves for Sobr. She always looked up to you as a soldier. She'd always ask Red about how you were doing or try to sneak into the _Massive_ 's bridge when you were calling…" Lena laughed softly.

Admittedly, Tenn had witnessed a few of those times during her reports to the Tallest. The little smeet secretly scurrying around the bridge trying to get a good look at her. Then Tallest Red discovered her and had some guards escort her outside. "Perhaps I could figure out a way to keep in touch with her. Who knows? If she's as brilliant as I hear she is, it's a possibility."

"Oh, thank you, Tenn! Thank you very much!"

She smiled. "It's the least I can do for you after you've been so nice to me."

Tenn felt a tiny tug on her robe and looked down. Rouge had clung to the long skirt and was doing his best to climb all the way up her legs, but only reached a few inches before sliding back down to the ground. He'd give tiny squeals and try again.

"He really seems to like you."

"That's curious, considering I was never very good with smeets…" Tenn watched as Rouge kept trying to climb towards her lap. She pulled him into it when he started to whimper. Then he started scratching into her abdomen and rubbing his head against it. "Okay…"

"Oh, you little rascal, you want the pouch, don't you? Don't you?" Lena spoke in the 'smeetie voice' again (no offense, but she found it very annoying) as she picked up her smeet and placed him into her own lap. Rouge immediately crawled into Lena's pouch with a happy squeak.

"I've never seen a dress like that."

"Well, you can't exactly find it in the market. I had the pouch added to my robes. Apparently, Irkens females used to carry smeets around in pouches back in the day. Natural-born smeets keep that instinct to crawl into their mothers' pouches, but as you know it has long since been removed by the genetic engineering, so I decided to improvise."

"So the pouch-thing applies to all womb-birthed smeets?"

"Yes."

Tenn eventually got tired of just wandering around the lounge and went to wander around the _Massive_ 's corridors. Wherever she went, soldiers, guards and whoever she passed by saluted and respectfully addressed her as Taller. She spent a few hours in the training ring, honing her combat skills; just because she was married to the Tallest didn't mean she'd just sit down and snack around, thank you very much. She still had a reputation to maintain, after all. Unfortunately, her opponents held back and didn't dare to hurt her even in a mock fight. They didn't want to face Tallest Purple's wrath should he find a single scratch on her.

Eventually, she got tired of winning effortlessly and made her way to the cafeteria. As soon as she stepped in everything went quiet for a few seconds as everyone saluted. It was becoming uncomfortable. Tenn sat down and a service drone brought her the food she asked for. She couldn't help but miss her fellow Invaders; not because she liked them or saw them as 'friends', rather it was because she loved to brag of her success and having conquered her assigned planet.

Speak of the devil, she spotted Invaders Skutch, Spleen and El having a sort of heated conversation. Probably debating who had been better than who and who'd get the best planet at the next Great Assigning. Tenn's lekku raised slightly as a devious grin came to her face. Silently she got to her feet and walked towards their table silently. They were so much into their argument they didn't even notice her. She felt powerful upon noticing how she had surpassed them all in height. "Long time no see."

Their reaction nearly almost made Tenn burst out into laughter. They abruptly turned their heads with their lekku flattened against their heads. "T-Taller Tenn!" Skutch and Spleen instantly saluted with fearful eyes. El took a few seconds longer, and there wasn't fear in her face, but rather envy and repressed anger. The former two probably thought she'd abuse her newfound position to make their lives as miserable as Bob's.

And they were right. "One of you give me fries," Tenn said, examining her fingers expectantly. The two male Invaders scrambled to their feet and grabbed the nearest fries available from their hungry owners, but nobody protested; they were meant for her, after all. She snatched the fries from Spleen and started eating them.

"H-Hey, Tenn-"

The former Invader snapped a fry in two with her fingers. "What did you just call me, soldier?"

Spleen panicked. "My apologies, my Taller! I just… W-Well, I… with the G-Great Assigning coming, I was... "

"Well, we were hoping… Perhaps you could talk to the Tallest about us and get them to give us nice planets to conquer?"

Oh, how she was enjoying this. Their very lives were in her hands… okay, more in her husband's hands, but now she had the power to throw them out of the airlock if she so wished. Tenn pretended to be thinking. "Mmm… Who knows? Perhaps I could mention it to my husband... if I feel like it." Tenn smirked. "Well, I'll leave you to your sad little childish debate over who's better than who. See you on the Great Assigning." Tenn turned around on her heels and started walking away.

"How's Dren doing?"

Tenn stopped right on her tracks. Her lekku went flat against her head. She could imagine El's smirk, and the other two Invaders making her signs to stop before she got herself-and them, by extension- thrown out of the airlock.

"Oh, wait. He's gone, right? Finito. I heard he was beheaded and his head sent to the Tallest? Do you happen to know if it's true? I mean, it's around that time that Tallest Purple got his eyes on you, didn't he?"

Her hands clenched into fists, crushing the now-empty bag of fries.

"Oh, did I struck a nerve? My apologies, my taller. I mean, it's not like it caught us by surprise. Everyone knew Dren was not the right choice for such a difficult planet as Sobr is. He was impatient, rash and reckless. He caused quite the trouble in the Academy." Tenn took a deep breath. "I wonder what he would have said if he saw you now married to one of the Tallest when it's barely been two months since his death-"

"Shut up." Tenn hissed at El. It had taken her a great deal of self-control not to scream and attack her. She wouldn't give her the pleasure. El had always been envious of her because she had everything she could only dream of: the top grades at the Academy, the reputation of being the best Invader, the Tallest's favor (she was starting to regret this last one, though) but overall Dren's love. "Just who do you think you are, soldier? You are in no position to talk me down like this, Invader El. I should have you re-encoded for your insolence!"

"Indeed, ma'am!"

"Save me your boot licking, Spleen. A few months ago you would have found it funny and laughed along." Tenn gave El a look reminiscent of a carnivorous vanticore about to pounce on its prey. "Do not provoke me, El. You just said it yourself, I'm married to one of the Tallest. One word of me is enough for him to re-encode you as a service drone should I ask him."

El merely chuckled. "Well, well! Famous Tenn shielding herself behind her husband, who would have thought?" By then Spleen and Skutch were smart enough to leave before the bomb exploded. "Looks like you've lost your edge already. How will you convince him, huh? You're going to take him to bed?"

It happened too fast. Tenn lunged at El, PAK-legs out, and with a furious yell. Both Irkenettes rolled unto the ground, exchanging punches, kicks, and bites. For the first time in a long while, Tenn finally found herself with a true opponent who wasn't holding back. The fight lasted until two soldiers separated them, or rather, forcefully dragged El off her.

" _What's going on here?_ "

The air went silent and rigid when Tallest Purple strode into the cafeteria, a half-empty bag of doughnuts in one hand and a serious frown on his face. Tenn glanced at him, and then at El. The smugness was gone and replaced by a fear that augmented as he came closer.

"Invader El assaulted Lady Tenn, My Tallest."

If it was even possible, Tallest Purple's gaze darkened even more as it fixed unto El. "She did?"

"M-My Tallest, I-"

"I expected more of you, Invader El. Seriously? Attacking not only a Taller but my _wife_? How long will it be before you assault _me_?"

"S-Sir, that's not what…!"

"Consider yourself banned from this Great Re-Assigning. The Control Brains will be informed of your transgression and you are hereby deprived of any snack bar privileges. Guards, take her to the detention brig and leave her there until we get to Conventia."

Tenn couldn't help but smirk internally in satisfaction as El was dragged away screaming and pleading for mercy. Ow, her cheek hurt! She placed her hand on top of the scratch marks. It stung upon contact.

"Are you alright?"

Tenn was surprised Tallest Purple had come to her side after El was dealt with and started checking on her. Guess he didn't want any 'marks' on his trophy. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch."

"Are you sure? Let me see…" Tallest Purple carefully removed her hand from the wound. "It doesn't look very deep. Yeah, the PAK will take care of it."

"My Tallest, there's something I wanted to ask you. I noticed there were only… two rooms in our quarters…"

He smirked. "Why, Tenn, you're smarter than that. How else are we supposed to keep trying?"

* * *

"You really suck with girls. Did you know that?"

"Shut up." Purple rubbed his sore cheek, courtesy of Tenn, looking away from his co-Tallest. Oh, he'd so get back at her for the embarrassment. He might not be able to punish her like he'd punish a mere service drone(as his wife, legally she was his equal and had every liberty to strike him now if she felt like it), but there were other, much more amusing ways.

"But seriously, Purple, she just got off a fight and you tell her that? That's not a good way to break the ice."

"Look who talks, Mr. 'sleep-on-the-couch'."

"At the very least I didn't need to resort to blackmailing to win Lena over."

"She was single and you didn't have any competition! Besides, you knew her since the Academy!"

Red sighed. "That's the issue here, Purple. If you want her to love you, you're doing it the wrong way. If you corner a snake, it strikes back."

"Hey, don't compare my Tenn to those slimy, limbless critters!"

"You know what I mean, Pur. All this time you've been trying to force her to like you, and that's obviously not working. So maybe you should try to approach this from a different angle."

"You mean the 'doggy' pose?"

Red spat the soda he was drinking. "What?! No, that's gross! What I mean to say is that you should stop trying to rush things. Get to know Tenn instead of just forcing her to do stuff."

"I know Tenn already." Purple frowned.

"What's her favorite snack?"

"What?"

"Her favorite color?"

"What does that-?"

"Her aspirations? Any funny stories of her time at the Academy? What does she enjoy doing?" Purple didn't respond. He merely motioned a service drone to come closer so and ordered her to get him a refill. "See what I mean? If you truly knew her, you would have answered at least three of those questions."

"Instead of worrying about my love life, how about you worry about yours? What are you going to do about Ilk? Once she sets off to Sobr Lena will probably send you to reside on the couch permanently."

"I have something in mind already. The Control Brains said I couldn't re-assign her to another planet, but…" Red smirked and took a slurp of his soda. "They never said anything about her SIR unit."

"What, we're going to build another SIR unit instead of giving her the standard one?"

"Obviously I'm not giving her one made of trash like Zim's! I have to make sure it's powerful enough to protect her and stand toe-to-toe a fully-grown Sobrekt..."

Purple found himself discussing ideas for a new, improved SIR unit for Ilk. After all, the standard unit that was given to Invader Dren-curse you, Dren-hadn't been very effective in protecting its master from angry hybrekts and head-ripping crocs, so Ilk's had to be better. For a few hours, they brainstormed for features and tools it could have, but Purple got mad when his idea for a doughnut machine was rejected and left the bridge early. If Red was so smart, then he could come up with something on his own.

Besides, Purple still had a pending issue with Tenn.

Now, what could he do…? Removing her snacking privileges wasn't enough, it was like a walk in the park, she wasn't that much into snacking. Sending her to sleep with the service drones was out of the question. There's no way he'd let his wife near the riffraff to contaminate his comfortable bed!

Bed….

Purple grinned.

* * *

Stupid Purple with that stupid grin of his in his stupidly tall body!

Tenn found herself repeating those words throughout the remainder of the day. Her mood was considerably sour too, to the point she ordered three service drones out of the airlock for no reason at all. Perhaps she wished to take out the anger and frustration on someone, and since she could not take it out on her husband, she chose to unleash it on whoever was shorter than her.

Adding insult to injury, he was right. There were only two dorms in the Tallest's quarters. As appealing as going to sleep in the barracks or with the service drones sounded, their fear of Tallest Purple weighed more than what they had for her.

She almost envied Lena for having the less…. Purple-ish Tallest for a husband. Almost. Except for the part she had gone through the excruciating pain of childbirth twice already.

So with no other choice, Tenn found herself returning to the Tallest's quarters, stopping for a few moments in front of the purple door for a few seconds. She sighed, irritated, and walked in.

"I was wondering when you'd show yourself, my dear."

There he was, the jerk, on his side of the bed with all his purple cushions and pillows, a smirk on his face.

"What's with the long face, Tenn? Still mad at El? Chill out, she'll probably be on her way to Foodcourtia by tomorrow."

"What?" Tenn asked dryly.

"Didn't you hear? After her assault, she was re-encoded as a Food Service drone."

"Aja." Tenn walked over to her side of the bed, intent on making a pillow like between her and Tallest Purple as soon as possible… wait a second. "My Tallest, I don't seem to have any-"

"Pillows? Ah, yeah, let's say they were dirty and needed to have a good washing."

Tenn saw through the lie, or maybe he meant for her to notice it. By then she had learned to see through his words when he had that smirk on his face, especially when he accommodated himself on top of all of his pillows. "We could share my pillows, there's _plenty of space_ for you." he licked his lips.

Tenn snorted and lay down on her cushionless side of the bed, turning her back on him as she tried to find a comfortable position. It helped that this bed was even better than the one on the Tallest Tower, probably because they spent more time here than on Irk.

"Okay, then, my dear. Good night!" A snap of his fingers and the lights went out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter wasn't so... dark. I'll stick a bit more to Purple's more 'cannon' side often, but I will also show his darker side that everyone fears so much. It's like a dragon hidden inside a cavern that will only come out when feeling threatened.
> 
> Again, feel free to comment and give me your constructive criticism. No flaming! see ya until next chapter!


	6. Ilk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tallest arrive at Conventia for the Great Re-Assigning. Tenn meets Ilk for the first time and gives her some encouragement after she learns what planet she was assigned to.

The _Massive_ arrived at Conventia one week later. During that time Tenn tried and failed to avoid Purple as much as possible, but it was hard when he had access to everywhere within the ship, and at night she had nowhere else to sleep but… _there_. And he had the annoying habit of either getting on top of her while sleeping or pulling her close and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't free herself from his hold.

On the bright side, though, he hadn't been lying when he said El had been demoted. She saw her being taken into a runner to take her to Foodcourtia.

Tenn couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic as she watched the familiar structures and buildings through the zhook cruiser's window. She remembered when she took part in the Great Assigning. The pride and honor she felt when she was assigned to one of the hardest planets… if Tallest Purple hadn't gotten his eyes on her, she would be part of this next assigning, waiting for their leaders to arrive and give them their assignments. Tenn cursed fate for the thousandth time.

The zhook cruiser landed at the main hangar in the main convention hall. Tenn followed Purple and Lena into the Tallest's personal lounge, where they'd stay for the duration of their stay; it was tiring to travel from and to the _Massive_ , after all. The Tallest were required to arrive one day before any event to get everything ready.

Tallest Red did not come. In fact, Tenn hadn't seen much of him all week. Tallest Purple claimed he had been busy working in a super-secret project and that he'd catch up later.

The Great Re-Assigning would take place the next day, anyway, so there was no rush.

"What's this 'super-secret' project he's been working on?" Tenn found herself asking.

"Oh, you'll see," Purple chuckled.

"Does it have to do with the technicians he's been throwing out of the airlock these days more than usual?" Lena asked dryly. She was _not_ in a particularly good mood today, Tenn noted.

"You could say so."

Tenn looked through the dark glass and into the hall. It was currently empty, except for a few cleaning drones sweeping the floor. She also spotted some technicians fixing or adjusting some machinery. Guess it was the 'dramatically special effects' the current Tallest were famous for.

"Hey, Tenn, what do you think is cooler? Smoke machines or lasers?"

Blinking, Tenn looked back at her 'husband. "What?"

"Again with _that_ , Purple?" Lena shook her head. "When will you two get over it? It's pretty immature on your part."

"Ah, Lena, Lena, Lena…" Tallest Purple patted her shoulder with a chuckle. "Of course _you_ wouldn't understand the 'issue', as you call it. Everyone knows smoke machines rock, but Red keeps stubbornly saying the contrary, and _someone_ has to defend the honor of smoke machines. "

Tenn rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Tenn, you never answered my question."

"I don't like either, okay? I think both are pretty dumb, I mean, what's the point? In my opinion, they are a waste of resources…" Tenn trailed off when noticed Tallest Purple had gone pale and he was looking at her as if she had spontaneously transformed into Zim. He wordlessly left the room. Tenn stared at the door, confused.

"Oh-uh. We won't see him for the rest of the day."

"Was it something I said?"

Lena sighed. "What can I say? I've never understood why they are so obsessed with the 'eternal argument'."

"Eternal argument?"

"That's how I dub their silly dispute over lasers and smoke machines." Both Irkenettes laughed. "You were lucky, you know. Usually whoever answers like that gets thrown out of the airlock."

"I suppose he wouldn't throw his own wife out of the airlock," Tenn muttered bitterly. Sometimes she wished he would, however, but always pushed these thoughts aside immediately. She was an Irken soldier. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her break.

There was a knock on the door. "M-My Tallest, you have a visitor!"

Tenn was about to ask who it was when Lena got ahead of her with noticeable eagerness, even inadvertently making Rouge roll unto his back as he tried to climb unto her skirt. "Let her in!"

A noticeable tall Irkenette clad in a pink version of the Irken Elite uniform entered. Tenn noted her height surpassed even the standards; the female was only a few inches shorter than Lena, she calculated her head reached either Tallest's chests. The crimson red eyes gave her away.

This had to be Ilk.

Lena confirmed it seconds later. "Ilk! You came!" She cried in joy and embraced her daughter tightly.

"I couldn't miss a chance to see you before the Great Assigning, mama!" Ilk laughed. "Who would have thought? I'm an Invader! Which planet do you think they'll assign me?"

Tenn felt bad for Lena when she noticed her smile faltering for a brief moment. Ilk didn't notice, thankfully. "Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll handle it just fine."

Rouge's lekku perked up. "Squeak!" He managed to roll back unto his belly and crawl hurriedly towards his sister. "Squeak, squeak!"

Ilk looked down at the smeet as he clung to her foot. "Aw, Rougie! It's been a while since I saw you!" She picked him up and tickled his belly.

Tenn simply watched as the three caught up. A moment later Lena finally seemed to recall she was there. "Oh, Ilk, remember Invader Tenn?"

"Yeah, think she'll also be reassigned?"

"Actually…" Lena stepped aside.

Tenn had many admirers during her days as an Invader. As the poster child for Irken Galactic Conquest, everyone knew who she was, and often she had been approached by a horde of fans or wanna-be's who begged for a glance or even a punch from her. But the blind admiration she had seen in their eyes couldn't hold a candle to all the flurry of emotions she saw in Ilk's eyes when she realized who she was. Tenn waved an uncertain hand. "Um… Hello?"

Ilk let out a loud scream and quickly handed Rouge back to Lena to rush to her. "Ohmygoshit'sreallyyou! Iamabigadmirerofyourwork! Thinkyoucouldgivemeanautograp?!"

Tenn blinked. "Would you mind speaking a bit more slowly…?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! It's just…! Wow!" Ilk was examining her excitedly. "So YOU are uncle Pur's wife? Cool! This technically makes us family!"

"Yeah…" Tenn forced herself to smile. She didn't have the heart to dash her hopes and telling her the monster Tallest Purple actually was. "So you came to the Great Assigning?"

Ilk nodded eagerly. "Yes. I know it's tomorrow, but since I won't be seeing my parents in the flesh for Irk-knows how long, I figured I'd stop by one day before." Ilk glanced around the room. "Hey, speaking of which where are dad and uncle Pur? They aren't here, are they? Otherwise, I'd already been in dad's grip."

"Your father will arrive later, he's working in something. And Purple…" Lena took a few seconds to reply. "Let's say he's venting off right now."

"Let me guess, someone told him both smoke machines and lasers are dumb?"

Tenn rubbed her forehead.

* * *

Admittedly, she had rarely seen the Tallest so happy.

Okay, she _had_ seen them happy at times, mostly when they just stuffed their faces with snacks, or when they pummeled those who failed probing day, or when throwing people out of the airlock. But never like _this_.

Both Tallest were ecstatic upon finding Ilk in the lounge, and much like she said Tallest Red pulled her into a digestor-hug and nearly suffocated her until Lena pointed it out. Afterward, they were locked into an amiable conversation, mostly about Ilk's days in the Academy. From what she heard, she got the highest scores. Lena would mostly ask if she had eaten well, or if her _PAK_ had properly adjusted to her body, while Red mostly inquired about her combat abilities and how many shorties she had beaten. Tenn noted Ilk averted her gaze every time he made such comments about the shorter ones.

The loyalist soldier in Tenn couldn't help but feel jealous when she noted how the Tallest were openly affectionate to Ilk. They were open and casual. The usual threats and superiority tone were missing. She bet Ilk had never seen that side of them. Then again, she _was_ Tallest Red's child and they had seen her grow since the cradle. Besides, given how dangerous her mission would be they wanted to spend time with her before her departure. No doubt the thing Tallest Red had been working on had to do with Ilk's mission.

That night they had dinner in one of the outer balconies. Lots of snacks were brought directly from the _Massive_ , particularly Ilk's favorite ones, most of which were the earthen variety. Tenn was surprised to learn Ilk was actually in good terms with Zim; what did she see in that defective to actually call him friend without shame was a mystery to Tenn, and judging from the reactions this elicited from both Tallest Red and Purple, they too failed to find it any sense.

Ilk had, jokingly, asked which planet had been assigned to her, but Tallest Red and Purple always changed the topic. Clearly, they didn't want her to spend all night worrying over being sent to one of the Irken Empire's most dangerous challengers, especially after Dren's head…

Tenn snapped the fork in two at the reminder, but thankfully no one noticed. She couldn't help but wonder what had happened to it, though. Probably disposed of.

"I never thought you'd get married, Uncle Pur."

Tallest Purple chuckled fondly. "I just hadn't found the right one until recently."

"So, how did you meet Tenn of all people…? No, wait, the first Great Assigning. What I mean is how you two ended up being together."

Tenn had to quickly take a drink of soft drink to avoid choking unto her marshmallows. What was she supposed to say? It wasn't like she could make up a whole romance novel in five seconds.

"After her conquering of Meekrob and her increased height, I saw her in a new light." Tallest Purple got ahead of her. He took a sip from his glass. "Ever since I started courting her, I met a new side of her and eventually she won me over."

Her blood started to boil. Of all the cynical…! She forced herself to take a deep breath and relax. He wasn't exactly _lying_ either, he was just omitting key details, such as his blackmail and his intention of using her as a means to get an heir.

"And how exactly did you propose?"

…

_She realized what his intentions were long before he even made the question. All the attention, the better treatment, the gifts, the compliments, the times he had taken advantage of their proximity to touch her, if ever so slightly._

_He wanted_ _**her** _ _. All of the above were non-subtle attempts to court her._

_Tenn felt torn; a small part of her was thrilled at the idea. The_ Tallest _himself was interested in her. It is to be considered an honor, and most females would have said yes without thinking it twice. But Tenn was not like most females. Dren was the only man she had ever loved, and now that he was gone she didn't find it fair to just find another. Surely Tallest Purple would understand, right?_

_How wrong she was._

" _..._ What _?" His face was emotionless as the word left her lips._

_Tenn knew better than to let her guard down. This was the calm before the storm. "No. I cannot, My Tallest… I can't marry you. Not right now. I don't feel… that way for you." She half expected him to lash out or yell, but he didn't. He just stood there, staring down at her with a vacant expression, all previous tenderness was gone._

_She could sense the stares from all guards and drones around, looking at her like she had gone insane, then fearfully at their Tallest. They were aware, like her, that the fuse had been lit. It was becoming uncomfortable._

" _Excuse me, I have to go…" Tenn uncomfortably left her seat and left the bridge, failing to notice the darkness creeping into his eyes._

…

"Hello? Earth to Purple! Or Tenn!"

Tenn blinked back into reality. Had she gone blank? She took a quick glance around. Tallest Red, Ilk and Lena were staring at them in concern. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine…"

Tallest Purple hadn't said anything. Tenn glanced at him. He, too, had a blank expression on his face. Apparently, the question had triggered the same memory in him, but she had the feeling his reaction wouldn't be as… calm as hers. He blinked twice and then looked at Ilk. "Sorry, I blacked out for a second. What were you saying?"

Thankfully, Ilk seemed to indirectly catch the message and changed the topic. "So there's no way you can tell me what planet I was assigned to?"

"No way, kid. You'll have to wait until tomorrow."

Later that night, when they were on their own bedchambers, Tenn's worries proved to be true to some extent. Tallest Purple didn't come to bed early; he was looking through the window with a troubled expression. Tenn figured he was replaying that particular event in his head. If he hated it so much, why didn't he have it erased from his _PAK_ -memory? She slipped under the covers and tried to make a small pillow barrier.

" _Don't_ you dare."

The voice he spoke to her with was very serious. _Dark_. Tenn almost shivered, especially when he glanced at her with a deep frown. It got worse when he came to bed. Definitely, the memory had gotten him in a sour mood. She thought he'd be rough with her tonight, but Tallest Purple merely got into bed and turned his back on her. Against her better judgment, Tenn whispered. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm not in the mood tonight, that's all."

Tenn stared at him for a while even after the lights turned off. She didn't understand him. He said he wanted a smeet, but ever since their... wedding night he never touched her again, at least not in _that_ way. Don't be mistaken, she was _glad_ , but she also found it odd. Did he change his mind? Or was he waiting to catch her off-guard?

Whatever the reason, she didn't really care. As long as he didn't touch her, it was fine by her. It might sound cruel and selfish, but Tenn silently thanked Ilk for reminding him of that experience.

* * *

Purple rarely gets mad at Ilk. She was his niece, after all, and he loved her very much. However, reminding him of that uncomfortable memory cost her a few points today. He had it removed from his _PAK_ -memory and tried his best to bury the one in his organic brain, but that question brought it back tenfold. This left him in a sour mood for the rest of the night and found himself restless.

And then there was the Great Re-Assigning, for which he had to be present at midday. How _very_ sad. Oh, well, duty calls.

Before leaving, he glanced at Tenn, feeling slightly jealous. She'd get to sleep until later if she wanted. She wasn't required to directly attend, she could watch from here if she wished so. She wasn't going to let the axe fall on top of Ilk's head. Mad as he could be at Ilk, he'd never wish such a fate upon her.

Conventia was boiling with life today, contrasting the almost empty, blissfully quiet atmosphere from yesterday. Ships of all sizes and shapes, all of Irken origin, were coming from everywhere within Irken controlled-space to witness the event. Lights from the teleporters shot down from space, materializing the attendees on the planet's surface, and then they made their way to the main convention hall in lines of thousands, like the earthen ants making their way back to their nest.

"There you are, Purple. What took you so long? I was about to go down without you," Red told him as he finally arrived at the platform.

"Had a bad night," Purple said simply, rubbing his temple. He hurriedly pointed at a small drone. "You! Give me some doughnuts!" the tiny Irken did as told and handed him a bag of the recently-made snacks.

" _You_ had a bad night? Lena sent me to the couch again just when I had gotten her to forget about it, claiming she wanted a girls' night with Ilk before… Well, you know."

One of the many technicians running around, making sure everything worked properly, came closer to them. "My Tallest, we're ready!"

"Whatever, now shoo, I don't want any of your sweat sprinkling unto my doughnuts." Purple waved a hand dismissively in the technician's direction. He frowned at Red when he felt his bag becoming lighter. "Wouldn't it be easier if you asked for a bag yourself?"

"I could have, but frankly, seeing you annoyed before a big event always cheers me up a bit. Considering I'm probably sending my only daughter to her death, I need as much as possible."

" _... all-powerful leaders, the Almighty Tallest_!"

Red sighed. "Okay, here goes nothing."

The platform they were in started floating down to the one on the ground, and they were instantly met with roars of cheers, which only seemed to intensify as they waved their hands. There were lasers flying around the place, but some smoke machines had additionally been put in the ceiling this time around, and _this_ time Purple was smart enough to dodge the lasers aimed at his eyes. Oh, when he found a way to get back at Red with his smoke machines, he'd _so_ get it.

The platform finally reached the bottom, but Purple didn't pay attention to Red's introductory speech. Instead, he took a quick glance at the Invaders on the other platform. Just like a few years ago, the chosen Elites-turned-Invaders awaited patiently for their assignment on top of the main platform. There were familiar faces, but also fresh ones out of the Academy, Ilk amongst the latter group. Their gazes met briefly, but she made no attempt to greet him. She knew she had to act professionally in a public event, at least for the time being. Purple couldn't help but feel proud upon noticing she was the tallest Invader, even more so than Larb.

"...completed their missions successfully, they are to be given an even harder challenge to prove just how much they have learned."

"Besides, not many newbies made it this time." Purple pointed out with a shrug.

"Now, let the assigning begin! Step forward, Invader Kei!" Red shouted.

Said Irken was not too tall, but not too short either, more in the gray zone. Not very impressive, and yet he came and saluted. "Greetings, My Tallest! I just want to say, I'm honored to be here today and-"

"And you'll do your best, blah, blah," Purple interrupted. "Save your speech for someone who actually wants to hear it."

"You've been assigned to Decapod 10 ***** , home of the…" Red stopped. "What was their name again? The lobster-like humanoids with their big claw-hands..."

Purple rolled his eyes. _This_ is what happens when you skip xenobiology classes to go to a snacking bar. "Decapodians." Admittedly, he had gone with Red a few times.

"Yeah, home of the decapodians." An illustration of said aliens appeared on the screen, additionally showing Invader Kei making a strange dance along with them. Speaking of Kei, he looked dismayed but tried his best to keep a stoic expression as he stepped off the platform to wait until the Re-Assigning was over.

This went on for the next hour. An Invader was called forward, they were given their assigned planet, Purple had to correct Red's lack of vocabulary, etcétera. They saw some familiar Invaders from the first Great Assigning, such as Larb, Skutch, and Grapa (the first was assigned to planet Vinci ***** , famous for its technological advancements) and new faces they had never seen before. Somehow even Skoodge made it to this Great Re-Assigning; when _he_ came unto the stage, Red and Purple merely exchanged a glance before assigning him to Unko ***** , home of the poisonous cobra people.

Eventually, there was only one Invader left. Purple could tell Red didn't have the heart to do so, so he called out. "And last… Invader Ilk."

His niece calmly made her way upstage. Instead of her Irken Elite clothes, she was clad in the standard Invader uniform. She looked so excited even behind that serious, professional face. With one glance Purple could tell his co-Tallest was _dying_ to hug her and tell her how sorry he was for being unable to change her assignment.

"Um, My Tallest?" Ilk said after a few minutes of silence. It felt weird when _she_ addressed them like that when he was used to being called 'uncle Pur'. "Are you okay?"

Right. They couldn't delay it any longer, but once again Red didn't look like he'd do it anytime soon. Purple sighed heavily. _Sorry, Red_. "Invader Ilk, you've been assigned to Sobr."

The reaction was instantaneous. The crowd gasped in shock, and he managed to spot a many who exchanged frightened and/or worried glances, especially when the image of Ilk being surrounded by sobrekt, kryvtors and a big, black indokuro was projected into the screen.

But it didn't compare to Ilk's reaction: she looked fine, but Purple knew her better than that. Her skin had turned a slightly paler color, her eyes were wide and her gaze never left the illustration. Clearly, she had not been expecting it.

He urged Red to say something with a small nudge; he couldn't show weakness in front of the audience. Red blinked back into reality and spoke up. "And thus concludes the Great Re-Assigning. All new Invaders report to the equipment hall. Thanks for coming, everyone, now off with you to… wherever you came from."

On the way to the equipment hall, Ilk stopped in her tracks. Purple halted alongside her and exchanged a concerned glance with Red. "All of you go ahead. We'll catch up shortly." He caught a few resentful glances at Ilk and went on her way.

"Ilk, are you okay?" Red placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ilk, sweetie…"

"S-Sobr…"

"Ilk, take a deep breath-"

"Y-You... They assigned me to…"

"Ilk-"

By then she was losing it. "It's where Invader Dren, his head…! T-They killed him on _Sobr_!"

"That's not going to happen to you-"

"Dren was a _skilled_ Invader and he was discovered! I'm a newbie in this, how can you be sure I'll last longer than a day!" Ilk stepped away from Red's grasp and against the wall. She _was_ losing it. "They are b-barbarians, I… What if…?" Her eyes widened in realization. "You knew."

Purple sighed sadly. He hated to that look. "We didn't want you to spend our last night together fretting over something we couldn't change. The Control Brains-"

"Ilk!" To Purple's not-so-big-surprise, at that moment Lena arrived and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. Tenn was with her too. Great. "Oh, sweetie…"

"Mama, you knew of this?"

"Ilk, sweetie…" Red bit his lip. "I wanted to change your assignment, I really did, but… The Control Brains didn't allow it. They would have re-encoded you if I tried to do so-"

"Don't you think that would have been better, _dad_?!" Oh, no, not _that_ tone. "At least the chances of dying are low for food service drones!"

"Ilk-!"

"I'm afraid, okay?! The sobrekt sent Invader Dren's head! His _HEAD_!"

Purple was about to say something when something strange happened. Tenn, his wife, stepped forwards and abruptly grabbed Ilk by the shoulders. There was a stern scowl on her face

"Now listen here, Ilk!" she snapped. "Stop it right now! You're not just an Invader, you're an Irken Elite soldier, the best of the best in the entire universe! And the only way to achieve that rank is to actually _be_ the best! So stop doubting of your capabilities and _focus_!"

"B-But… It's S-Sobr… Invader Dren-"

"I know Invader Dren was killed in action in that planet, but you know what? It's part of the job! He perfectly knew the risk of the job, and he didn't care! He still went because he wanted to serve his Empire, and he was proud to do so! I assure you that if he were here, he would encourage you to do your best!

"You are right, the sobrekt are barbarians, but you are _smarter_ than them, use that to your advantage! If they rely on brute force, use your superior intelligence against them! You are the child of Tallest Red and Taller Lena, you have nothing to be afraid of! Or what, you mean to tell me that you are weak?!"

"I… No, I..."

" _Are_ you weak?!

"No!"

" _Are you weak?!_ "

"NO!"

"Then stop complaining like a smeet and go conquer those damn lizards!"

Purple stared at both Irkenettes, agape. He wasn't the only one: he caught a glimpse of Red and Lena's shocked expressions. Ilk took some deep breaths, released herself from Tenn's grasp and nodded. "I'm ready."

* * *

Tenn had felt bad for having to yell at Ilk. She had liked her the previous night, she was a nice girl. Sadly, this proved she was _too_ nice. She needed brutal honesty. Gentleness and sweet-talking to wasn't going to help her, not in this job. Now she partly understood Lena when she had claimed Ilk wasn't emotionally prepared for such a job. But anyway, what's done is done.

She felt especially bad for Lena when they witnessed Ilk's assigning, especially upon noticing Ilk's reaction. Tenn then followed her as she burst out of the lounge and went to catch up with the Tallest. Poor Ilk was a wreck of nerves and fear. At that moment, Tenn realized her tutoring would have to start from then on, starting with snapping her out of it and giving her the confidence.

Afterward, they finally made it to the equipment hall, where the other Invaders had been waiting rather impatient, but none complained verbally. Tenn _did_ catch a few resentful stares aimed at Ilk's direction. Though she hated to admit it, she partly understood them. They did what they could to earn the Tallest's favor and never received anything as simple as a 'thank you', while Ilk was naturally showered with it just because she was blood-related to one. As much as it pained her to admit it, she couldn't deny that she would have shared their attitude had none of this happened.

As the new Invaders were given their SIR units (once again, one was unceremoniously thrown by Tallest Purple at the Invader who asked for it), Tenn couldn't help but miss her own SIR unit. It's hard not to get attached to them when they're literally the only allies you have in an enemy planet. When Ilk stepped forward, however, there were no SIR units left.

"I have a better model for you, sweetheart." Tallest Red clarified and snapped his fingers. An engineer drone hurriedly brought another robot. It had an uncanny resemblance to the regular SIR units, but its eyes were narrower and there were red patterns on its metallic body. "Ilk, meet your new DIR *****."

"DIR?"

The robot's red eyes turned on when Ilk spoke. " **Voice authentication confirmed.** " It got to its feet and saluted. " **Greetings, my mistress. My name is DIR and I shall aid you during your mission.** "

Tenn stared at the DIR unit in awe. So that's why Tallest Red had been so busy the past week, he had been working on that for Ilk. She was glad the other Invaders had already left, otherwise one of them would have probably protested.

"Okay… So what's the difference between this one and the regular SIR unit?"

Tallest Red was grinning proudly. "That's something you'll figure out eventually, sweetheart. But I assure you, it's _way_ better than a regular SIR. It's more than capable of aiding you in combat against a sobrekt should you ever face any… difficulties."

"It would have been even better if you had added a doughnut machine in it."

Tenn rolled her eyes at Tallest Purple's comment.

If Lena had looked like she wanted to cry back Ilk was first assigned, it didn't hold a candle to her face as they came to the hangar, where a brand new zhook cruiser was waiting for Ilk. Tenn had the feeling that this model had additional perks, another courtesy of Tallest Red for his child. Speaking of him, he seemed to share Lena's anguish even though it was far less noticeable in him. His eyes did show great sorrow, however.

Tallest Purple, on the other hand, reacted to the situation by stuffing in a whole bag of doughnuts.

She didn't exactly hear what they told Ilk, but she guessed Lena had informed her daughter that she (Tenn) would be mentoring her via transmissions, judging by how Ilk had given her a grateful glance before she finally departed.

Afterward, the mood became… tense. Upon finally returning to the _Massive_ , Lena locked herself in her and Tallest Red's room with Rouge and refused to come out even to eat. He knocked on the door and tried to get her to open before having to leave for Tallest duty with Purple, leaving Tenn alone in the living area. She had the feeling Lena wanted to be alone, so she didn't bother her. She _did_ leave a small bag of cheesy puffs for Rouge outside the door in case she got hungry. Half an hour later, Tenn heard the door opening slightly to grab the snacks.

When the Tallest finally returned for the day, the door never opened. The message was _very_ clear. Tenn felt a bit bad for Tallest Red until he grabbed a bunch of pillows and a long blanket from a secret compartment, which he dubbed emergency couch stash, ECS for short, which he had installed for _these_ situations.

Once more, Tenn envied the better relationship Lena had with her husband. She doubted she'd ever be able to do that to Tallest Purple if he ever made her angry about something, though frankly, she couldn't imagine anything he could do to make her even angrier than she already was at him, at least not something worse than what he had already done.

"Tenn?"

Sighing, she turned to face Tallest Purple. "What?" she asked coldly.

"Umm…" he rubbed the back of his head. "Well… You see, I…" he cleared his throat. "I wanted to tell you… thank you for helping Ilk."

Her lekku raised slightly.

"I'm not sure we would have been able to talk her down ourselves. Yet you handled it almost naturally, you knew what to say and how to say it. Even though she mentioned... Invader Dren's fate, you kept your cool."

The reminder stung. "All she needed was a little push," Tenn shrugged, averting her gaze. "She's got talent, she just needs to focus it."

Tallest Purple was fidgeting with his drink. It was evident he wasn't used to thanking people on such a personal level. "She means very much to me, you know. She was my first niece, I was there since the moment she was born, and… I'm not sure what I'd do if something happened to her."

"You're not the only one who thinks like that." Tenn glanced in the direction of Red and Lena's room.

Another sigh. "I got the feeling she won't be talking to Red for the duration of Operation Impending Doom III."

An awkward silence followed. Tenn couldn't deny it, she found his affection for Ilk and Rouge… touching. From what she heard of him before he started 'courting' her, she didn't imagine him like that kind of person, _especially_ after blackmailing her and everything else. And yet this proved otherwise. Perhaps he was different with them? Or she was yet to know him better, as he had pointed out not long ago…

No. He was cruel and manipulating, putting aside his sometimes childish tendencies when he didn't get what he wanted. Nothing would make her change her mind about him. So what if he had a softer side with smeets? It still didn't change who he really was when they were not around. Yet the way he was currently looking at her...

"I'm going to sleep." She announced and went straight to the bedroom, not bothering to lock it. What was the point if he could override whatever code she put into the door? His next words gave her something to ponder about, however.

"Good night, Tenn."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Decapod 10 and Vinci: Both are references to Futurama.
> 
> *Unko, home of the poisonous cobra people: This one was a suggestion from Invader Johnny, a planet he made up and I assume he'll eventually include in his fics. Hopefully.
> 
> *DIR: the D stands for 'Deluxe'. It was pointed out above that a regular SIR unit cannot match a sobrekt in combat, so Red decided to create a better model from scratch. Anything for his baby, after all.
> 
> From here on, we'll start seeing more tidbits of the 'nicer side' of Purple. True, he is selfish, cruel and has a somewhat sadistic personality most of the time, but as you can see he has a different attitude regarding Ilk and rouge, and he genuinely cares for them.


	7. Unexpected Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Massive receives an unexpected guest. Purple finds a way to be alone with Tenn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for making it shorter than usual, but these past weeks I've been working on the initial phase on my final project from university, which involves lots of writing. Hopefully, the next chapter will be longer if this project doesn't consume too much of my creative juices.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Think she's already got there? What if she ran into something? A meteor, or a psychopathic giant space squid,space pirates, who knows?! Why hasn't she called?! Or maybe I should call her and make sure she's okay…"

"Red, chill out," Purple said, lifting his glass of soda and taking a sip.

"She should have called by now!"

"Really, it's barely been a day, and Sobr is a long way from Conventia even with the hyperdrive. Even if she actually got there, she'll have to be careful to get past their orbital defenses."

"That's the issue. Remember Invader Dren's report? He said it took him three hours to get past the orbital cannons. What do you think could happen to my Ilk now that the Sobrekt reinforced their defenses?!"

"She's got Tenn as her mentor and DIR, she'll be fine," Purple took a sip from the glass. "How's Lena?"

Red sighed and rubbed his temple. "She's still not talking to me."

"Frankly, I don't blame her."

"Hey, whose side are you on?!"

Purple shrugged. "Sorry, Red, usually I'm on yours, but on marital matters, I'd rather not take sides."

It had barely been a day ever since the Great Re-Assigning and Red was already freaking out over Ilk's wellbeing. Purple couldn't really blame him. Ilk _had_ promised she'd call when she got there safe and sound, but Sobrekt were on high alert, so he guessed they were intercepting any calls that left their home planet. He had barely stopped Red from calling her and potentially exposing her before her mission could even begin.

"Hey, Pur, how're your attempts at smeeting doing?"

Purple choked on his drink but managed to dissimulate. What was he going to say? He had not touched his wife since that first night because she still outright _refused_ to love him back, no matter how many times he tried to win her affection. He was running out of options (and patience). But he couldn't let Red know that or he'd make fun of him for not being able to 'tame' his mate. "Still nothing. I wonder if I should use the fertility pills." He lied.

"Those things take time, you can't expect poor Tenn to get pregnant at the first, tenth or fiftieth time."

"Lena did at the twenty-fifth."

"Lena was a medic and she never worked as a soldier," Red looked thoughtful for a moment. "Plus she actually _wanted_ smeets."

Purple grunted.

"My Tallest, there's an incoming transmission from-"

Red groaned. "Let me guess: Planet Earth."

"Not exactly, it comes from Zim directly."

Purple frowned. Directly? Red got ahead of him. "Patch him through."

Much to their surprise, Zim was not in his base, but the décor around him was Irken. Where had he gone? " _My Tallest! How very nice to see you_!" He cried out, waving a hand.

"What now, Zim?" Purple asked, though his voice was devoid of any annoyance. They weren't as much annoyed by Zim anymore; he didn't understand why, though, maybe because he had taller or because he had given them quite a… valuable asset. He did still drive them nuts sometimes, though.

" _You see, I wanted to see if Ilk-smeet is still around! I learned she made it to the Great Re-Assigning and I made a care package for her_ ," Zim frowned. " _But I didn't make it to the ceremony because somebody forgot to refuel my voot runner!_ " He was probably referring to his defective SIR, making Purple wonder why he still had that piece of junk around if it caused so much trouble.

"And what does your 'care-package' contain, if I may know?" Red asked, narrowing his eyes. It wasn't hard to guess why he was suspicious; Zim's gifts tended to do more harm than good.

" _Just a little lizard-repellent to keep the sobrekt-beasts away. Anyhow, I-_ "

"Wait a minute, how did you know she was assigned to Sobr if you didn't make it to the Great Re-Assigning?"

" _Oh, I know all kinds of things about her._ "

Purple felt a shiver run down his spine. "Still as creepy as ever, Zim."

Red had gone pale, and his lekku were raised in alarm. "You didn't send your package to Sobr, did you?!"

" _Of course not, sirs. I did my research. Sobr is not within Irken-controlled space, so the Conveyor Belt Planet doesn't send anything there. Besides, since Invader Dren pathetically failed in his mission the Sobrekt are probably intercepting any suspicious-looking mail, so I decided to use the transporter you got at the Massive to send it directly to her base_."

Purple exchanged a surprised look with Red. That… wasn't such a bad idea, even if it came from Zim. "Okay, did you just think all of that by yourself?"

" _I know, I'm brilliant!_ "

"Yeah, yeah, okay, Zim. You can send your… care-package over and we'll take a look at it…"

" _Actually, My Tallest, I brought the package personally._ " This caused Purple to almost choke unto the doughnut he had just bitten into, while his co-ruler spat a mouthful of soda into his face.

"What?! Where are you-?!"

" _Just outside, sirs!_ " At that moment there was a knock on the door, making Purple jump in surprise, and he wasn't the only one. One of the engineers had jumped to his neighbor's lap with a frightened squeal. At that moment the transmission was cut off as the doors opened, revealing Zim in all his taller-but-still-defective glory. He was holding a parcel under one arm. "Hello, My Tallest!"

"What the-?! How did he get in here without anyone noticing?!" Purple yelled in dismay.

"It's snacking time, My Tallest."

Damn it. Mental note, shorten the guards' snacking time. Red was busy cursing in Irken while rubbing his temple, so Purple took it from there for the time being. "Okay, so what's this… 'sobrekt repellent' you speak of?"

Zim held out a bulbous-looking, white vegetable of sorts. "These particular fruits hyoomans call onyons have the particular power of irritating eyeballs to the point of causing severe discomfort and tears."

Red stared skeptically at the onyon. "Right, and how would that repel a sobrekt exactly?"

"Actually, Red, if you ever did your xenobiology homework, which you _didn't_ ," Purple added quickly. "Sobrekt can't cry, at least not the way we know. Their lacrimal glands only produce enough tears to keep their eyes properly hydrated. External irritants can make these glands produce too many tears, which can actually render them blind for a certain period of time. Because of this, they tend to avoid whatever can make their eyes sting or even suspect in the slightest might 'make them cry'."

Red blinked. "Hey, if you know all of that, why did you always fail xenobiology?"

"Because _this_ is _actually_ important." Purple motioned one of the engineers to bring over the onyon. He took a close look at it. It did have a strong smell, he was sure it would be even stronger if it was cut, but he wasn't going to try it out personally.

"Okay, Zim… Thanks for bringing your… fruit that makes people cry, now if you'd leave it here we'll take a look at it and maybe we'll send it to Ilk when she has built her base."

There was a beep in one of the consoles. "My Tallest, we have an incoming transmission from Sobr-"

Purple jumped, spilling his soda on top of his robe when Red shouted out of nowhere. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, THEN?! ANSWER IT!" Purple glared at him but was ignored. On the bright side, he got an internal laugh when Zim (also caught by surprise) jumped into the arms of the nearest engineer, who dropped him back on the ground.

Ilk appeared on the screen. There wasn't any visible scratch on her, but she did look exhausted. Unlike cloned Irkens, Ilk couldn't go long without sleeping, even with her PAK's energy reserves. The background consisted of Irken technology, so he guessed she had successfully infiltrated Sobr and built her base. Okay, step one, check.

Purple couldn't help but chuckle when both Red and Zim started vying for Ilk's attention, though Red could actually push Zim out of the way as many times as he wanted, while Zim merely stepped back into view. It had been a long time ever since he watched Zim make a fool of himself.

" _Okay…_." Ilk said awkwardly. " _Should I call mom first while you two make up your minds?_ "

"Don't worry, sweetie, somebody here will fetch your mother!" Red quickly motioned one of the present Irken Elites to do so.

"Ilk-smeet, it's me! Hello, look at me! Zim has a sobr-beast repellent for you!"

" _That's nice, Zim._ " Purple wondered how come Ilk could actually like Zim, or she didn't and did a great job pretending she did, much like him and Red.

"Zim, how about you go send your care-package right now so she can thank you in person?" Purple whispered quickly to the defective. He knew that was all Zim needed to hear to make him leave in anticipating squeals of delight.

Ilk coughed uncomfortably. " _Anyway, I promised I'd call you as soon as I arrived, so… here I am!_ "

"So how was the infiltration, Ilk?" Red inquired.

" _It took a while to get past their orbital customs. Ever since Invader Dren's discovery, no foreign ships are not allowed into Sobr without a thorough examination to make sure they aren't disguised Irken ships. We managed to get in by hiding in a sobrekt carrier headed for Igano, their capital city. DIR suggested that I build the base in a less-crowded area, so we ended up in the outskirts_."

"What about your disguise?"

" _I'm… still working on it_."

"What do you mean?"

DIR took it from there. " _The… conventional disguises provided are not enough to fool the dominant species, particularly the genetically-altered hybrids who were the cause of Invader Dren's demise. They seem to have been designed with an exceptional sense of smell and sixth sense. My mistress is working on an enzyme that will recreate the scent of Sobr's native creatures to fool the hybrids into thinking she is one of their own_."

" _Besides, there are a few issues with my holographic disguise, such as the lack of a tail-limb. If anyone were to try and grab it in a fight their hand would go right through it and they'd know something is off._ " Ilk added.

Now he understood why Red always said she'd surpass Larb, and partly why the Control Brains assigned her there. She _was_ more observational and had figured _that_ detail out before even starting the initial reconnaissance. He missed most of the part in which Red almost started to cry-or display liquid pride-until he heard Ilk asking what Zim was sending. "An earthen fruit he claims might repel Sobrekt. I wouldn't take his word for it, though. You know how Zim's stuff tends to… backfire."

" _ **Mistress, you have a package sent directly from the Massive**_."

Just as DIR went to retrieve it, Lena ran straight into the bridge, followed by his lovely Tenn. Lena looked different from the last time he saw her. There were bags under her slightly bloodshot eyes and she looked thinner. Purple couldn't help but worry. Only a few days and she came out like this? He had an idea as to how Red would react.

"Lena, there you- Lena! Sweet Irk, are you okay?!"

" _Mama, what happened to you?!_ "

Lena went past Red, ignoring him, and instead made her way to the front of the giant monitor. "Ilk, are you alright?! Are you safe?!"

" _I'm fine, mama, I just arrived about an hour ago. Turns out Days and nights have 48 hours each, which gives me plenty of time to research and/or rest…_ "

"Are you eating well? Brushing your teeth?" Purple snickered at Lena's motherly overprotectiveness but had to avert his gaze when Red glared at him.

" _Mama…!_ "

"Um, Lena, I think right now's not a good time for that…" Red tried to intervene but stepped back when his wife gave him a death glare.

Thankfully for everyone in the room, Ilk's SIR returned with the now-open package. " _DIR, did you take a look at it?_ "

" _Yes, mistress. This fruit is composed of eighty-nine percent water, nine percent carbohydrates, one percent protein, and negligible fat. Additionally, when the outside layers are cut, it releases a volatile gas that stimulates nerves in the ocular orbs as a defense mechanism. The Sobrekt's reptilian physiology renders them unable to cry like most organic forms of life, so this is likely to severely irritate their eyes_."

"Wait, you're saying… Zim was actually right?" Purple asked. He couldn't believe it, and judging by Red and Tenn's faces they couldn't either.

At that moment Zim returned, looking proud of himself. "Did you get Zim's present, Ilk-smeet?"

" _I did, Zim! And it seems it might be useful after all! Thank you very much!_ "

Zim became unbearable for the past hour after Ilk finally had to hang up. Thankfully, he didn't stay for long. Apparently, he had a date with his 'gaz-demon' back on Earth and he didn't want to be late or she'd kill him.

On the bright side, Lena seemed to have calmed down considerably. The first thing she did was to eat fifty bags of doughnuts and chips. She still wouldn't talk to Red, however. Frankly, Purple didn't blame her for that. After getting her snacks she went back to their living lounge accompanied by Tenn.

"Can you blame her? I mean, if you were worried about Ilk, how do you think she was? You even saw the state she was in!"

"I'm getting worried. What if she gets ill? She lost five pounds! Five! Besides, I'm not sure I can take any more nights of sleeping on the couch."

"What do you complain about? Tenn's still as cold as ever and she still doesn't like the idea of smeets." He sighed sadly.

Red shook his head at him. "Really, Purple, is that all you care about?"

"Easy for you to say. You already have two kids."

"And in case you forgot, Lena had it hard in both births. Tenn's shorter, have you considered this might complicate it further for her?"

"It's Tenn we're talking about, Red. If she could handle the Meekrob, surely she can handle a birth or two. Instead of worrying about _my_ wife, you should be more concerned about _yours_." Purple said. But he couldn't help but ponder on his co-Tallest's words. He had a point there. Due to centuries of relying on cloning to make their young in a faster rate, Irkenettes' reproductive systems weren't what they used to be.

"I've been thinking about that…" Red rubbed his chin and looked down. "Perhaps it would be nice if Lena and I took a small vacation somewhere. It has been a long time since we had some time alone and she needs something to distract herself."

Purple chuckled and took a bite off his doughnut. "Good luck with convincing her to leave Rouge behind, especially with one of her kids on the other side of the galaxy already…" There was _no_ way she'd leave Rouge under those circumstances unless she could be certain her smeet would be safe, which meant he'd never get some time alone with….

Purple lifted his lekku. Wait a minute. "Hey, Red… What would you say if Tenn and I looked after Rouge while you and Lena are gone?"

* * *

She almost didn't recognize Lena after she came out of her room, pale and thin. She was afraid she had gotten ill, but after a quick researching, she learned she was merely in a severe emotional state caused by her sorrow over Ilk's departure and her constant worry. After Ilk's transmission, she seemed to have calmed down considerably to the point she devoured quite a big ration of snacks.

Tenn had to say, she was impressed at Ilk's progress despite having just arrived. At the same time, however, she couldn't help but think about Dren. He had also called her upon arriving to let her know he was okay. He had shown her his disguise and discussed his plans for conquering the Sobrekt with great eagerness. He even promised to show her the beautiful spots on Sobr once he conquered it.

"Tenn? Are you okay?"

"Huh? What?"

"You spaced out for some time, are you alright?"

"I…" Tenn blinked. Did this happen often? Or only when she thought about Dren? "I'm okay, I… It's just that I was remembering…"

"You were thinking about… him?"

With a sad sigh, Tenn nodded. "I remembered his first call after arriving on Sobr. He was so excited to conquer it for… The Tallest," if only he had known what Tallest Purple would do to her with him gone. "He was working on a plan to turn the hybrekts against their masters, but for that, he said he needed some DNA samples."

Lena looked sympathetically at her. "I'm sorry…"

"I'm fine, really. How about you? How are you feeling?"

"What can I say?" Lena took a handful of chips into her mouth. "I'm glad she's made it there, but I'm still having nightmares about…. her head in a package."

"It won't happen. You saw it for yourself, she's much warier than Dren was-"

"But she lacks the cold blood. She has a good heart, maybe of the few Irkens in the universe that can call other species an equal. I'm afraid she will get attached to the natives and she won't be able to stab them in the back, but if they find her I'm certain the sobrekt won't have that same courtesy with her."

"What about Red? Are you still mad at him?"

Lena sighed. "Not that much anymore. It's not really _his_ fault. The Control Brains have the last word in the matter, and I'm sure they would have assigned her as an Invader eventually even if Red hadn't contributed to that decision. How about you and Purple?"

Before she could answer, both Tallests returned at that moment, the two of them grinning. Tenn had a bad feeling about this. "Oh, sweetheart, I've got a surprise for you." Tallest Red chimed. What was he up to?

Lena only sighed. "What is it, Red?"

He seemed happy that she was finally talking to him again. "Remember the place where we had our after-wedding vacation to have some time alone?"

Tallest Purple quickly whispered to him. " _Honeymoon_."

"Our honeymoon!"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I figured that perhaps it would be nice if we had some time… alone, just you and I. You could call it a second honeymoon!"

Tenn could see where this was going. Lena was no fool either. "What about Rouge?"

"Don't worry about him, Tenn and I will look after him!"

Tenn barely, just _barely_ , managed to keep her soda inside her mouth. "Um, Red, can we have a private word?" She watched as Lena grabbed her mate's hand and led him into the room. Before the doors closed shut, however, she brought Rouge out and placed him in Purple's hands. No doubt she didn't want him to witness an argument, should it break out.

As soon as his mama was out of sight, Rouge started to whimper and sob. "It's okay, Rouge, mama is just having a… talk with daddy." Tallest Purple bounced the smeet in his hands, but it did little god.

"Since when did you start using Zim's hyooman terms?"

"It's easier to pronounce than _Smrook-Irkanak_." Tallest Purple shrugged. "Besides, that lunar rock covered in that sugary plant secretion regurgitated by bees wasn't that bad."

"You mean to tell me we're going to babysit a smeet for Irk knows how long?"

"Come on, it won't be that bad. Rouge's pretty well-behaved…" At that moment Rouge burst out into a wailing fit. Tallest Purple sighed. "Most of the time."


	8. Smeetsitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Lena go on vacation. Purple and Tenn have to take care of Rouge, but it's easier said than done.

"I left you instructions on your reader, on the fridge, and on the database in case you lose either of the previous ones."

"Yes, Lena."

"Do _not_ give him any marshmallows and be sure to keep gummies away from him. He likes them, but they cause him stomach aches."

"Aja."

"If he doesn't stop crying, give him his blankie and a puppet and he should calm down."

"Lena, really, Rouge will be fine. He's in _very_ good hands."

Tenn wished she could have agreed with Tallest Purple on that one. Shortly after, Tallest Red and Lena left on the former's personal vessel for _Vacatio_. They saw them off at the hangar, then returned to their quarters to take a look at Rouge. He was currently napping, but Tenn knew that once he awoke and found his mother missing, hell would be unleashed.

What was bugging her was that Tallest Purple has left her _alone_ with the smeet. He went to Tallest duty while she stayed behind at the quarters, watching comedy videos and replays of previous organic sweeps. She replayed through the Meekrob sweep over and over again. Her greatest achievement up to date. By the fifth time, she wondered if there were any footages of Dren from any transmissions.

Her curiosity spiked, Tenn surfaced through the databases for a good few minutes until she found one. One of the few reports Dren had managed to send to the Tallest before… she was momentarily torn in-between ignoring it or playing it. It had been a while since she saw Dren's face… eventually, the latter side won and she pressed the replay button.

Dren appeared on the irkpad's screen, looking ecstatic. " _Greetings, My Tallest! Sorry for not reporting for so long, but I wanted to be sure the Sobrekt wouldn't trace the signal back to my base. Besides, I wanted to wait until I had a plan worthy of your time and attention._ " Tenn sighed bitterly. If only he knew. " _I'm happy to say I've made some progress in my mission. I've captured some minor-sized Hybrekts to analyze their DNA and I've managed to determine the genomes used in each._ _I'll be sending you a copy of the results, sirs_.

Tenn remembered the issue. Dren did send the report along with some DNA samples, but sadly the Hybrekts he chose were not deemed fit for being too 'small and uncool'. She wasn't present on the _Massive_ at that time, but she _did_ hear the Tallest ordered him to get DNA samples of the 'cooler' hybrids. She passed to the next report.

" _I have a theory regarding the Hybrekts, My Tallest, and for that, I shall obtain a DNA from their iconic specimen: the indokuro_." Tenn felt her blood starting to boil as the image on the screen changed to show said animal. Dren was gone because of _them_. " _They hold a_ very _important place in sobrekt culture, especially in the military area. There's a whole branch of the sobrekt military that focuses on raising and training these indokuros for a great variety of tasks. I shall call again once I've succeeded, sires._ _Invader Dren signing off_."

Tenn's squeedly spooch dropped when she noticed the date this had been sent; days before his head was delivered. There were no further reports after this one; this was the _last_ he ever sent. She couldn't contain a sob as she clutched the data pad close to her chest, pressing her lekku against her head.

She was dropped out of her mood by Tallest Purple's voice. "Oh, _Tenn_!" Tenn quickly wiped her eyes and tucked the irkpad under the cushions just as he came in, holding a bottle of something and two cups. "Guess what? I found a nice brand of Vortian blue wine, and I figured we could try it out."

Tenn snorted. From the beginning, she saw through his offer of looking after Rouge as a rather pathetic attempt to be alone with her. She'd give him credit, though. It was, unfortunately, a smart move. "What? Got bored of throwing people out of the airlock?"

"Oh, come on, my dear. I just want to spend some quality time with you."

"That's curious, considering you left me alone with the smeet. What would I have done if he woke up? He's _not_ going to be happy when he starts calling out for his mother and realizes she's not around."

"Well, while that happens, we could enjoy ourselves a bit, don't you think?"

Tenn's lekku perked up when she heard something coming from Red and Lena's bedroom. A squeal...? Or a whimper? "I think Rouge awoke."

Tallest Purple didn't believe her. "We'd know it by now."

"No, really, I heard a whimper coming from the room."

"If it makes you feel better, go take a look."

" _Me_? This was _your_ idea."

"Who's going to look after the wine if I go?"

Tenn muttered something under her breath and made her way towards the room. It was similar to Purple and hers, except this one's décor was mostly in shades of red. The only piece of blue was Rouge's crib located a few steps from the bed. Like she suspected, Rouge had woken up and was calling for his mother in-between whimpers. "Squeak! Squeak!"

He noticed Tenn. "Hi…." She waved a nervous hand at him, unsure of what to do. She quickly surfed through the interweb with her _PAK_ , looking for any information regarding smeets whose mothers were absent, but all it said was that they should be held and comforted.

"Hey, what's taking you so long-?" Tallest Purple stopped in his tracks, raising his lekku. He smacked his forehead. "Great. _Just great_."

"What do I do? It's staring at me."

"He's curious. From what I heard, he likes you for some reason." Rouge held his arms up to Tenn. "See? You should pick him up before he starts to cry; once he does, it'll be _very_ hard to calm him down."

"How do I do that? I've never held a smeet in my life!"

Tallest Purple sighed and floated closer to the crib. "You just pick him up like this." His long, thin fingers wrapped around Rouge's waist and lifted him off the cradle, making a makeshift 'crib' by cupping his hands. Rouge rolled onto his belly and waved his little arms at her again. "See? Now take him."

Tenn gulped internally when she cupped her hands so Rouge could be placed in them. Even there, Rouge was not happy and continued to squirm and whimper. "What now?"

"Bounce him a bit, he loves it. Yeah, like- No, no, not like that! He's going to-!"

_**PUAJ!** _

**X0X**

"Way to go, Tenn."

Tenn growled as she dropped her vomit-covered dress into the laundry chute and slipped into a clean one. "If _you_ are the expert, why don't _you_ take care of him since this was _your_ idea, to begin with."

Tallest Purple smirked. "Oh, no. If I sink, you come with me, my dear."

"I hate you."

"I love you too!"

Tenn felt her eye and lekku twitching. She covered her auditive holes as Rouge continued to cry loudly, squirming violently in his tiny smeet basket. His fists were clenched and his lekku were flat against his head to show how unhappy he was. "What do we do now?"

"Well, Lena's instructions state that if he starts crying, we should either give him some candy, his favorite toy or something to distract him." Tallest Purple went to the snack bar and returned with a bag of cheesy puffs. "Here, Rouge! I got a snack for you!" He waved one of the puffs just above his head. The smeet didn't even pay it any heed. "Nop, that's not going to work." He flung the puff into his mouth.

"Don't eat his snacks!" Tenn snapped.

"We can get more. Besides, wasting snacks is a crime punishable by being tossed out of the airlock!" Another cheesy puff.

Tenn sighed. "Okay, what's his favorite toy?"

"I don't know."

Her eye twitched again. "Are you kidding me? And you have the cynicism to say you 'love' smeets?"

"Hey, I do, but Rouge's with Lena most of the time and I rarely get to him out of her pouch!"

The next hour consisted of showing Rouge all his toys, one by one, to see which one was his favorite, but he rejected all of them. He _did_ show preference over a stuffed bee (courtesy of Zim), but in his current state swatted it away after a few seconds and went back to crying. Then Tallest Purple tried distracting him with some puppets, they put him some smeet videos on Irktube, but nothing worked.

By Irk's nighttime hours, Tenn was having a headache from all the wailing. What was she to do to get some peace and quiet, for Irk's sake?! "Please just go to sleep…!" They put Rouge back in his crib and turned on the rocking mode, but he was _still_ crying his eyes out. It was a good thing she wasn't used to sleeping much. Tallest Purple, on the other hand...

"Here, Rouge…" He shook a rattle over the smeet to no avail. The area under his eyes was dark from exhaustion.

At the very least _he_ was having a hard time too. "What a _good_ idea you had, My Tallest."

"Not _now_ , Tenn. I'm not in the mood for sarcasm on your part."

Tenn grabbed the pacifier and tried to put it into Rouge's mouth, but he spat it out and it flew right into her eye. She had to bite her lip to contain the curse that nearly escaped her mouth as she rubbed her eye; Lena wouldn't forgive her if she taught her smeet a 'bad word'. She frowned when she heard a chuckle. "What?"

"Just look at us. We look like a family."

Her frown deepened. "We're _not_ a family, we're just two irkens trying to put a smeet to sleep."

"On the bright side, this is a good practice for when we have our own."

"I _don't_ want smeets. I thought you'd have it clear by now, _especially_ after this."

"Ah, Tenn. Tenn, Tenn, Tenn." Tallest Purple shook his head, chuckling. "I'm not _asking_ you. I'm telling you what's _going to happen_." There it was, the venom from before. It was notably sugar coated because Rouge was present, but it was there. By then she was used to it, so it didn't really frighten her even though it did send alarms through her system.

The tension in the air seemed to frighten Rouge further as his cries augmented in volume. Tenn sighed in dismay. "How do you expect us to have smeets when we can't even put this one to sleep?"

"Wait… If the problem is that he misses Lena..." Tallest Purple searched through some drawers and returned with another puppet. This one was almost identical to Lena. A mini-version of Lena. "Hi, Rouge! I'm the miniature version of your mama!"

Tenn watched in awe as the crueler and more feared of the two Tallest spoke in a high-pitched voice and motioned a puppet over a smeet in a playful manner. Even more surprisingly, it seemed to work; Rouge stopped crying and stared at the mini-Lena with wide cyan eyes, reaching out for it. Tallest Purple let him grab the puppet and the smeet was fawning over it.

Oh, sweet, wonderful silence! Even Tallest Purple seemed relieved. "A good thing Red made a Lena puppet."

"Why did he make a puppet of her, anyway? Is it a habit of his to make puppets of people?"

"Just people he either _likes_ or people he likes _pummeling_. In Lena's case, it's for when she sends him to sleep on the couch."

"What's your obsession with puppets?" She still couldn't understand it. She still recalled the last Probing Day. She had initially prepared a nice presentation until it turned out the Tallest wanted a _puppet show_ instead. She had to make an improvised show with napkin puppets and whatever she had at hand at that time. She still remembered that pummeling.

"Hey, everyone loves puppets!"

Rouge let out a big yawn, rubbed one of his eyes and shortly after fell asleep, much to Tenn's deep relief. Sadly it didn't last long, as minutes later Tallest Purple returned with his bottle of wine and the two glasses. "Okay, so where were we?"

* * *

If there was something she could thank alcohol for, it was dulling her senses for when he touched her. It was the only reason she accepted his offer in the first place. Besides, she had never tasted Vortian blue wine before. She might as well try and get more positive experiences out of this situation.

Of course, this had its downsides as well, such as the damn hangover next morning. Her _PAK_ sent some painkillers and other drugs into her system to neutralize the splitting headache, vomiting and other symptoms, but this also caused her to become especially sore and drowsy. To make things worse, Rouge decided to wake up at that moment and started to cry. She, of course, had _no_ intention of leaving the bed.

"Tenn, Rouge is awake."

"Well, good luck." She imagined him rolling his eyes as he got out of bed and left the room. Tenn smirked.

Even better, he didn't come back for the past two hours. By then she felt better enough to go get a glass of water. She found her husband on the kitchen alongside Rouge. He was trying to feed the smeet with spoonfuls of a strange fudge-like substance, but Rouge sealed his lips shut and moved his head away. She noticed mini-Lena was still tightly held in his grasp.

"Come on, Rouge, here comes the… voot cruiser! It's _very_ tasty! Hey, Tenn, don't just stand there and help me!"

Tenn frowned. "After he threw up all over me yesterday? Forget it." She poured water into a glass and took a refreshing sip.

" _Squeak! Squeak!_ " Her lekku perked up. Looking back, she saw Rouge holding out his arms for her.

Tallest Purple smirked. "See? He wants _you_ to feed him so his uncle Pur can go to work."

Tenn was about to refuse a second time when Rouge started to whimper. It made her squeedly-spooch squirm. She sighed. "Fine." Reluctantly she stomped over to the high chair and snatched the spoon from her husband's grasp. "How do I feed him?"

"You just put the spoon in front of his mouth and put the contents inside when he opens it. Just make sure to give him small amounts and wait twenty seconds in-between spoonfuls. See you later, my dear!" That said, he pulled her close for a quick, half-forced lekku 'kiss' and departed, leaving her alone with Rouge.

"Squeak!"

"Okay, okay, I got it, you're hungry." Tenn took a look at the jar of smeet feet, labeled with the brand 'sweets 4 smeets'. She had heard of that company; it provided the smeeteries with fudge-based food for the young smeets until they could process calories, and additionally sold it to Irkens who raised their own smeets. She couldn't help it and took a tiny spoonful. It tasted just like she remembered.

"Squeak!" Rouge protested with flattened lekku and a small frown.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it."

Tenn took another spoonful and fed it to Rouge; this time he _did_ open his mouth and ate all the contents, licking his lips. "Mmmm!"

Tenn sighed. "Well, at least _one_ of us is happy."

Soon she got hungry herself. She could have had a service drone bring her snacks, but she didn't like the idea of being stuck in here all day, so she picked Rouge up and made her way down to the cafeteria. After choosing a table to sit on, she placed Rouge down and watched him toy with mini-Lena curiously, even going as far as to bring its head into his mouth.

She was enjoying some nachos when she received a _PAK_ -mail from Ilk. Guess she had made significant progress since her last call and wanted her opinion on her conquest plan. She opened the message.

_To: Invader Tenn_

_From: Ilk_

_Subject: Invader Dren's research_.

 _Hi, Tenn! I wanted to let you know that everything's going smoothly so far, thankfully._ DIR _has been observing some frill-neck lizards the sobrekt tend to have as pets to learn its proper behavior and record some vocalizations for her disguise. Cool, I didn't think she could do that! I've finished the prototype of the prosthetic-tail to use along with my holographic disguise and now I'm working on fake claws and teeth to go along; turns out the Sobrekt would rather fight with their bare hands and teeth if they have the chance._

_Anyhow, I wanted to ask you something. Invader Dren (may he rest in peace) had a theory regarding the hybrekts and managed to make some significant advances before his discovery. Did he ever mention something to you about said research? It would save me a bit of time._

_PD: I'm not sure how I should refer to you, considering you're technically my aunt now. Could I call you auntie or should I keep calling you Tenn?_

Tenn sighed, though she couldn't help but smile a bit. She _really_ was a nice girl. Regarding her question about… Dren, he _did_ mention something in one of their transmissions. Usually, Invaders _never_ shared information about their missions with each other, given the Irkens' solitary nature and not wanting to risk their plans being plagiarized, but she and Dren had been different. Their trust in each other had been _that_ strong that they always shared everything. In fact, it was thanks to Dren's advice that she had successfully conquered Meekrob; partly, of course, it mostly had to do with her own merit.

Dren thought that all Sobrekt hybrids had something in common, a sort of genetic 'patent' that linked them all together even if they were made of different genomes. He had captured a frill-neck-one of the least dangerous hybrekts- and put it together with a genetically-pure native creature from Sobr. The frill-neck hunted and ate it. But when he repeated the experiment, this time with a hybrekt of a different type, they didn't show hostility and instead coexisted rather peacefully, except for the occasional quarrel.

Tenn sent her reply a few minutes later explaining this theory and some data on the research previously sent by Dren to the Tallest, including the videos. She additionally added that Ilk could call her 'auntie' _only_ when not on official business.

* * *

Okay, maybe offering to look after Rouge was not a completely _good_ idea after all. He was alone with Tenn, okay, but Rouge didn't give them much time to get 'cozy'. Every time he managed to get a romantic atmosphere, he started to cry or demanded any sort of attention. It wasn't that he didn't love his nephew, but the whole point of this was to be alone with his wife, and he couldn't do _that_ with a smeet present. Not only that, but it even seemed like Rouge did it on purpose. That smeet was smarter than he gave him credit for.

Yet a part of him liked that. He had always liked smeets. Not the ones from the smeeteries; those could already talk, think and do stuff thanks to the _PAK_. No, he was talking about natural-born smeets. The cute, innocent little things. He had no idea where it came from or when it started, but he always desired to have smeets of his own. This only strengthened after Ilk and Rouge were born and he helped take care of them.

Sadly, it seemed he'd have to wait a bit longer for his wish to come true. The latest pregnancy test on Tenn was negative. Damn it! He ordered some curly fries and a can of whipped cream be brought… What? It's a good combination, regardless of what Red said.

"My Tallest, incoming transmission from Vacatio."

Purple sighed. Of course, Lena couldn't spend five minutes without news from her smeet. "Patch them through." As he suspected, Lena was the one on the screen while Red was nowhere to be seen. It had been a while ever since he saw her in a swimming suit. She looked dazzling. "Hey there, Lena."

" _Purple, is Rouge alright?_ "

"He's perfectly fine, Lena. He's just having breakfast with Tenn."

" _And Ilk? Anything new about her state_?"

"She can't call that often because of the situation in Sobr, you know that. _But_ she did send a _PAK_ -mail to Tenn to help her in her research." Lena relaxed visibly. "Hey, where's Red?"

" _Getting a tentapod massage. I wanted to see if everything was alright meanwhile_."

Ah, tentapod massages are _really_ nice. "Everything okay between you two?"

She sighed. " _You could say so. What irks me is that he doesn't seem to worry about Ilk!_ "

"It's not like that and you know it. He's just as worried as you are, maybe more, but he also knows Ilk's more than capable of handling the lizards. You've seen it yourself, she's doing perfectly fine! Believe me, in a few months we'll be heading to Sobr to perform the Organic Sweep!"

" _How about you and Tenn? How's she doing with Rouge_?"

Purple carefully thought of the reply. "You should see her, she's such a natural! Rouge loves her!" It wasn't a _complete_ lie, Rouge liked Tenn even if it wasn't exactly the other way around. Sadly, Lena seemed to see through the lie. She was never easy to trick. "Okay, she's still learning the ropes, but she's doing perfectly fine!"

The doors opened at that moment and Tenn rushed in, looking scared out of her wits. In her hands was Rouge, wailing hysterically. "My Tallest, I need a hand!"

Purple smacked his forehead.

**X0X**

Rouge whimpered as he clutched mini-Lena, whose head had been taped back into place, close.

"Thanks for making me look bad, _Tenn_."

"You're the one who left me alone with him when you knew I have never taken care of a smeet before!"

"You didn't have to take it out on mini-Lena, you know!"

"He was nibbling on its eye! He could have choked it if it came out! But he didn't want to let go of it…!"

"But seriously, _beheading_ her? Do you have any idea of the trauma you may have caused him?"

Tenn rolled her eyes. "You're exaggerating, it's just a puppet."

He would have given his wife a proper lecture on a smeet's fragile psyche, but Rouge's whimpers made something in him stir awake. He carefully picked his nephew up in his hands, crooning and clicking with his tongue as he bounced him carefully. "There, there, it's okay, Rougie. Uncle Pur is here." It took him a few minutes, but eventually Rouge soothed down. He gently rubbed the smeet's head just in the spot he liked, earning a content purr in return.

"What are you…?"

He put quickly put Rouge in one hand and lifted the other to tell Tenn to be quiet, especially when Rouge stirred. He cooed again as he carefully placed him back unto his cradle and tucked him in, activating the rocking mode. Rouge purred contentedly as he fell asleep.

"How did you do that?"

Purple panicked and motioned her to keep her voice down. He walked out of the room and urged her to do the same. After turning off the lights, he closed the door shut. Once he was sure Rouge was out of earshot, he sighed in relief. "He's got sharp lekku. The tiniest noise can wake him up, and if you wake him up during nap time…" He gulped. The last time it took them eight hours to get him to stop crying, and while that happened he was _very_ aggressive as far as smeets go.

"As for your question, I had a lot of practice with Ilk when she was a smeet. Red and Lena were first-time parents and didn't have much experience, so I had to lend them a hand with my superior knowledge of trivial things."

Tenn narrowed her eyes. "Superior? From what I've seen of you, you're not the tastiest fry in the meal."

He frowned and loomed over his wife. Her lekku flattened even though she retained her defiant posture. She still feared him and yet did everything in her power not to show it. It was starting to get amusing. Purple smirked as he stroked her cheek and then inadvertently gripped one of her lekku-not tightly enough to hurt her, just enough to immobilize her- and pulled her close.

"Do _not_ provoke me, my dear. You said it, I might not be as good in engineering as Red and I might be rusted in certain areas, but you seem to forget I'm also the most _ruthless_ of the two of us. I'm sure you've heard what happens to those who dare cross _me_ ; being tossed out of the airlock sounds like sugar compared to my wrath. You don't know this, but even Red knows which strings never to touch to avoid making me mad."

He pulled her close until their faces were inches from each other. Her eyes were mostly defiant, but he could see a tiny bit of fear and hesitation edging into the corners. He decided she had enough for the time being. "Well, honey, I'm going to bed. Love you!" he kissed Tenn's forehead and retreated to their bedchambers. He almost burst out laughing but managed to contain it in the last moment.


	9. The Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenn turns out to be terrible at watching smeets, and Rouge winds up somewhere else. Purple makes a proposal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, dear, my recent announcement has caused more... controversy than I anticipated. I can't say I'm surprised, I knew of the risk that some people wouldn't agree, but let me explain why I took this decision.
> 
> I want to portray Purple as a dominating, possessive jerk at first, that's right, and I still headcanon that he's the darkest of the two Tallest, but after reading further portrayals of his character in other fics AND then the show, I realized that as evil as he can be, he's not the type of person to resort to r...*. I don't feel comfortable in making too OOC in that sense. There will be sex, later on, but consensual one.
> 
> One more thing: this is a romance story, that's right, but as we all know there are many types of romance out there, not just the 'happily ever after' ones. I'm not going to kill Purple, because I want him to be a redeemable character, but...
> 
> Oops, sorry, I almost gave a major spoiler. You'll have to wait and see what I mean.

The next three days technically followed the same routine. Wake up, deal with Tallest Purple, feed Rouge, look after Rouge for the rest of the day, Tallest Purple trying to impregnate her again. Tenn hated it. Back on her days as an Invader, they were rarely identical. There were many things to do such as research and information gathering, which made her experience unique,'of dangerous. But here every single day was identical, with tiny alterations to it, such as having to look for Rouge when he tried to crawl out of the room.

In other words, she was _bored_. How could the Tallest stand this?

Then again, it's not like _their_ day was easy either. They had to deal with all politics, the assigned Invaders, keeping the enslaved planets in line, performing organic sweeps, raising the morale, and overall making sure no one got taller than them. On one occasion Tallest Purple seemed exhausted after two days of not coming to bed, to the point he didn't try for a smeet that night and just dropped dead without bothering to undress. This will sound selfish and cruel, but she wished he had more days like that wasn't the case.

As time went on, a part of her was… amused at the way he interacted with Rouge. He _certainly_ would be a good father, but then she'd curse him for picking _her_ as his smeet factory when there were other females who would be more than happy to grant him his wish. Tenn even came to curse her height, the main reason he had fixed his eyes on her in the first place. If anyone found out about that, they'd think she was defective for thinking like that.

A soft squeak and scratching in her abdomen brought her out of her thoughts. Rouge was rubbing his head against her robe, looking for a pouch opening he'd never find. Poor little guy.

"Sorry, Rouge, but I don't have a pouch like your mama…" Tenn panicked when his lower lip started to quiver and his eyes teared up. "Okay, okay, I'll see what I can do!"

Damn it, how did Lena make a pouch in her robe? Tenn searched for instructions in the Irkpad and soon came across a small tutorial as to how to make a smeeting pouch. She just needed a piece of fabric, which she cut from one of her old uniforms, and a laser needle conveniently found in Lena's drawer. She wouldn't mind if she borrowed it for a few minutes, right?

Tenn had to momentarily take off her dress to work on it, while Rouge was distracted with the mini-Lena on the ground. Unfortunately, the tutorial made it seem easier than it actually was, and she ended up burning her fingers thrice. Finally, she managed to make a decent pouch in her dress, big enough to house Rouge. Sighing in relief, Tenn slipped the dress back on and picked up Rouge. "Okay, you little rascal, I ruined one of my dresses for this, so I hope you like it." Not that she cared about the dress itself: she just thought it looked ridiculous.

Rouge scratched her belly again until he found the opening of the pouch. With a happy squeak, he crawled into it. Then he starred purring contently after making himself at home.

And there he stayed most of the time ever since. On the bright side, Tenn got to learn a bit more about smeet behavior. Rouge would mostly stay inside the pouch, shifting every now and then to get comfortable (it was quite a bizarre sensation, in her opinion), but he always kept his lekku sticking out to sense what was going on around her. If there was a sound or smell that caught his attention, he'd poke out his head to take a look. Depending on the object of interest, he'd squeak and reach out for it or retreat back into the pouch.

Now that the issue was settled, Tenn went back to watching Dren's videos on the Irkpad. As she watched him in action, she wondered what he would have said if he saw her babysitting a smeet. She was never fond of them, but Dren loved them: in fact, had things gone according to plan and they _had_ married, perhaps she would have _eventually_ accepted to carry _his_ smeets.

"Squeak?" Tenn blinked and looked down at her abdomen. Rouge had peeked out of the pouch and stared at Dren's image curiously.

"Oh, that's Dren, Rouge… He was someone very important to me… You know, if your uncle hadn't laid his eyes on me, Dren and I would be married by now…" The sentence died in her throat as the tears threatened to roll down her cheeks again.

Her eyes felt heavy. Surely Rouge wouldn't mind if she took a nap, would he? Besides, it was his fault for being too fussy for two days in a row, not letting recharge her _PAK_ 's energy reserves. Tenn yawned and shifted in the couch to make herself comfortable before drifting off.

…

" _Come on, can't catch me!"_

" _Wait up, Dren!_ "

_She chased after him in the training course, where the exercise turned into a personal competition. Eventually, she managed to catch up to him and tackled him to the ground. Both rolled down the grassy hill, laughing until they fell into a pond. After that, they snuck off to take a break in the nearby barracks._

" _You're my best friend, Dren."_

_He smiled and wrapped an arm around her. "You too, Tenn. You too…"_

_She leaned her head against his shoulder._

" _Oh, Tenn…."_

_Tenn…_

_TENN!_

…

The former Invader was startled awake by a loud shout, finding Tallest Purple had returned and was currently turning the place upside down. Tenn frowned. " _What_? I was having a good dream."

"Where is Rouge?!"

"What do you mean?"

"The smeet, woman! Where did he go?!" Tallest Purple lifted the couch with his _PAK_ legs only to let it fall back with a groan upon finding nothing beneath it.

"Stop shouting, he's in my…" Tenn realized she was not feeling movement against her abdomen. Looking down, she saw her pouch was empty. "...pouch."

"You lost him?!"

"He was on the pouch a while ago!"

"Do you have any idea of what you've done?! My nephew is on the loose! He could be anywhere on the _Massive_ by now!" Tallest Purple lifted the couch she was _sitting_ in (How on Irk could he lift it with such thin arms?), prompting her to jump off before he threw it away in frustration. "Damn it!"

* * *

Okay, Purple, don't panic. He couldn't have gone far, right? At least that's what he told himself in the first ten minutes after Rouge went missing. He tried to believe it until they found the air vent shut was open. Arg! Damn it!

"Seriously, woman, I can't leave you alone with a smeet for ten minutes?!"

"You were gone for hours!" his wife protested indignantly.

Oh, well, he'd have time to scold her later. What mattered right now was finding Rouge before he got hurt, or worse. He immediately went to the bridge, dragging Tenn along, and gave orders to look for Rouge. All the crew inside the Irken flagship left their current duties to look for the smeet under every crack and crevice (figuratively speaking, of course).

That was four hours ago, and there was still no sign of the smeet. They had looked in all possible places: the kitchen, cafeteria, gaming room (what? He and Red needed somewhere to pass the time when not blowing up planets), the engine and training rooms, everywhere! He even sent people to take a look at the barracks and the detention cells, but thank the Control Brains he wasn't back there either. There were many things in those places that a smeet should not see. By now he was _almost_ hysterical.

"My Tallest, we've checked the power core and the reactor rooms. He's not there."

"Okay, that leaves… eighty percent of the _Massive_ to look in!" Purple smacked his forehead. Why did this ship have to be so big?! No, wait, it's _supposed_ to be big, it's the _Massive_ , after all. "Tenn, this is your fault!"

"My fault? Who left me all alone with a smeet?"

He glared at his wife, who was currently sitting down on top of a service drone due to the lack of seats. "Well, you were in charge of him while I was gone!"

"And I told you I'm _not_ good with smeets!"

Purple muttered. "Irk, I'm definitely not leaving my smeets alone with you."

" _I don't want smeets_."

He was too worried about Rouge to even get mad at her for that comment. Damn it, if Red and Lena called and the latter found out he had lost her smeet, he'd be lucky if she didn't personally throw _him_ out of the airlock with her own hands. "Go re-check everywhere on this ship! I don't care if you have to tear it apart, just find my nephew!"

"Yes, sir!"

"My Tallest, incoming transmission from-"

"If it's from Earth, block the signal! I'm _not_ in the mood for Zim's ridiculous ramblings right now!"

"B-But, my Tallest…."

"I said block it!"

"But…"

" _Do it_!" Purple snarled at the technician. "Everyone else, where do you think a smeet so young could be?!"

"Maybe stuck inside a snack machine?"

"We checked them all already."

"The hangar?"

"Anyone would have noticed by now." Tenn pointed out.

"You can't know that! Rouge is tiny, he can get anywhere!"

"He can't walk yet, right? He couldn't have gotten far if that's the case, he'd eventually get tired or hungry."

"My Tallest, there's a message from the kitchen. They just missed taller smeet Rouge; apparently, he snuck out of the air vents and ate some marshmallows!"

Oh, great! If there's something worse than a lost smeet, it's a lost smeet with a sugar rush. He was still sore from when Ilk got one and controlled the _Massive_ remotely with an emergency controller *****. On the bright side, the event accidentally took out a big portion of a rebelling fleet.

"Hey…. Don't you think he could have gone to the escape pods?"

Purple glanced at his wife. "Of course not! What makes you think that?!"

"Think about it. We've managed to keep him calm, but he _still_ misses his mother. What if he's looking for her?"

"That… is not actually such a bad hypothesis, My Tallest." another technician pointed out.

Tenn continued. "Judging by how he always reacts when Lena leaves him, I think he still hasn't fully grasped the object permanence."

"You mean the concept of knowing something still exists even if hidden or not present?"

"That's right. Thinking like a smeet: if mama's not around, I go look for her. If mama is not in the ship, then she must be somewhere outside."

"You're implying he will try to leave the _Massive_?"

Tenn looked uncertain. "It's a hypothesis. I don't know, you know him better than I!"

Purple had to admit that the hypothesis wasn't so bad. Rouge _had_ gone looking for Lena on previous occasions, such as the party on Irk celebrating the twentieth year of their rule as Tallest. Rouge had been left behind on his nursery in the Tallest Tower, yet he somehow found his way outside to the courtyard where the party was taking place. Perhaps it might be similar this time, except now they were aboard the _Massive_ , which kind of narrowed down the places he could have gone.

But Rouge was just a smeet. Even if Tenn was right, his little smeet brain had no idea how to drive a ship or even its purpose. He was too tiny to reach the control panel of the escape pods and much like the ships, Rouge would not be able to tell how to launch meant the only way he could actually leave the _Massive_ was through the airlock-

His eyes went wide in fright as he froze in place. No, he didn't…!

* * *

While usually she would have been happy and/or amused at seeing her husband under stress or having a bad time, on this occasion there was a smeet in the middle of all this issue, so she couldn't really enjoy Tallest Purple's reaction as he imagined the worst case scenario: Rouge throwing himself out of the airlock. Come on, even a smeet wouldn't be that dumb… right?

But this was no common smeet, this was Tallest Red and Lena's child they were talking about. She and Purple were _both_ in charge of him, which meant that if Tallest Purple's ship exploded she'd be dragged down with it (figuratively). This knowledge left her with an uncomfortable sensation in her squeedly-spooch. She stayed behind on the bridge as Tallest Purple sped out to 'take an active part in the search'. She could already imagine him freaking out as he checked all the airlocks in the _Massive_ , which might take him a good while at best.

"Lady Tenn, we have an incoming transmission from Sobr." One of the technicians announced a few minutes later after Tallest Purple had left.

"What are you waiting for? Take it."

" _Oh, hi, Tenn!_ " Ilk greeted. " _Is Uncle Pur around?_ "

Tenn thought it would be wise if she didn't find out about Rouge's disappearance. "Yeah, he went to get some doughnuts. How about you? Is there anything you need?"

" _It's two things, actually. The first: I'm done with mine and_ DIR' _s holographic disguises and I wanted to show you._ DIR _, activate your camouflage!_ "

" _Yes, mistress!_ "

Ilk pressed some buttons on her gauntlet to activate her disguise. Many of the technicians gasped in awe, and admittedly, Tenn herself felt very impressed. A female kryvtor with orange scales stood in place of Ilk. Next to her, instead of a SIR unit stood a frill-neck lizard. "Very good!" Tenn praised.

Ilk's holographic disguise blushed with a green color. Incredible, somehow she even found a way to fake natural body responses! " _Thanks! Additionally, I finished with the enzyme to trick the hybrekt's sense of smell. I've tested it with many types of hybrekts I captured, but I'm yet to try it on an Indokuro. Those are too dangerous to try and capture, plus their creation and distribution are_ very _controlled_."

Her squeedly-spooch sank at the mention of those creatures. "Yeah, I can imagine…"

" _Oh, that's not all._ DIR _, show them your Frill-mode!_ " the disguised robot started acting like an actual frill-neck lizard, complete with body language and even some vocalizations. All the technicians in the room cheered and clapped their hands at the demonstration. " _T-Thank you…._ " Ilk's disguise blushed again. Wow, she was really modest if she reacted like this to praise.

Unfortunately Tallest Purple returned sooner than expected. He looked _terrified_. "Okay, Tenn, start packing! If we start running now, we'll be far away by the time Red and Lena return-!" He froze again upon seeing the screen. He screamed. "Oh, no! Please don't tell me Ilk was discovered!"

" _Uncle Pur, it's me!_ " Ilk quickly deactivated both glamours. " _I'm fine, see? I was just showing Tenn our disguises, that's all._ "

Tallest Purple sighed in deep relief. "Thank Irk! It's bad enough I already lost- OW!" Tenn quickly kicked his leg (harder than intended on purpose) before he could reveal Rouge's missing status. He glared at her for a few seconds before catching on. "Hey, your disguise is really cool! You tricked me for a moment! Haha! Did you call Red already?"

" _I'd rather not talk about it…_ " Ilk said though she looked more embarrassed than upset. Guess Tallest Red had reacted similarly to Tallest Purple.

"Say, Ilk, you said there were two things you wanted to tell us. What's the second?"

" _Oh, yeah. The second is about Rouge. Where is he?_ " Tenn felt a shiver down her spine. She _knew_ that tactic. Somehow, Ilk had a hunch as to what had happened; the direct question was to elicit a reaction.

"R-Rouge? Oh, he's napping! Y-Yeah, he was so tired after we… We played hide-and-seek!"

Ilk raised a lekku. " _How curious, because I just got a call from Zim._ "

Tallest Purple asked. "What does he have to do with Rouge?"

" _Computer, repeat Invader Zim's message, audio only_."

" _ **Greetings**_ , _**Ilk-smeet! It's me, Zim! I wanted to let you know your Almighty uncle has entrusted me with taller smeet Rouge! He must have been impressed by my incredible smeet-sitting skills when I looked after you, and so he decided to send him to me so that he may have a similar experience! I tried calling him to thank him, but apparently he was so busy he wasn't able to take my call, so I decided to instead ask you to relay Zim's gratitude in my stead!**_ "

Tenn blinked. So _that_ is why Zim called! If they had just taken it they would have saved themselves hours of anguish. But how did Rouge end up on Earth to begin with...? Wait, the _Massive_ 's teleporter. He must have found his way there and somehow activated it with coordinates to Earth.

She tilted her head to take a glance at Tallest Purple; his mouth was hanging open and he looked like somebody had dropped a bucket of cold water on top of him. She _almost_ laughed at his expression, but had the feeling he wouldn't take it kindly. Not right now. He _had_ freaked out about Rouge and threw a good quarter of the Irkens on board out of the airlock for failing to find his nephew.

All sympathy she _might_ have felt for him disappeared when he pointed a finger at her, however. "It's Tenn's fault! She fell asleep while she was supposed to look after him!"

She glared at him indignantly. "You left me all alone with him!"

" _Okay, okay, calm down, you two. What matters is that Rouge is okay, at least he didn't teleport himself_ here _._ "

"Ilk, he would have been safer with _you_ than with _Zim_." Tallest Purple went plate. "Do Red and Lena know about this?!"

" _No, don't worry, I managed to convince Zim not to call them_." Ilk sighed. " _But really, Uncle Pur, you shouldn't_ _leave all the work of looking after a smeet on Tenn! That's not nice!_ "

Oh, how she _enjoyed_ the look on his face when Ilk scolded _him_. But over all, she enjoyed the silence that came with Rouge's absence. Don't be mistaken, she _was_ worried about what could happen to him while being under Zim's care. But she hadn't had a decent recharging for a good while now. After the transmission was finally ended, Tallest Purple gave orders to set course for Earth, and especially to keep this particularly embarrassing event in the dark from Tallest Red and Lena.

While Tallest Purple threw a tantrum over the scolding he got from his own niece, Tenn went to the cafeteria to take some snacks. Once again, she took advantage of her position to get some snacks from the shorter Irkens, given that the kitchen was still recovering from Tallest Purple's latest stress-induced-snacking-spree (SISS, for short) and they were short on snacks.

Her time of relaxation was cut short when her name was called through the speakers. " _Tenn, sweetheart, would you mind coming up? I'd like to have a chat with you!_ " She felt a shiver down her spine when she recognized the undertone in his voice. Silently, Tenn left her nachos (which were then ravenously devoured by a service drone) and went to the elevator that would take her to the lounge.

* * *

_In case you forgot, Lena had it hard in both births. Tenn's shorter, have you considered this might complicate it further for her?_

Try as he might, he could not get Red's words out of his head. The worst of all? Deep down he knew he was _right_. Lena had complications when Ilk and Rouge were born. It was even worse with Rouge because it was the second time. The only reason she had survived both times was because of her height, which made it easier for the smeets to come out of the spooch-sac.

Tenn was notably shorter. Besides, unlike Lena whose spooch-sac was never touched before bearing her smeets, Tenn's had been removed during her Invader training to avoid any… accidents. While lacking sexual appetite, it didn't mean they couldn't have sex with whoever they deemed worthy. He had to take her to have her spooch-sac restored so she'd be able to breed again, but it wouldn't work at its maximum efficiency. Part of him was afraid that she might…Stop thinking like that, Purple! She would be fine. She was a warrior. He wouldn't have chosen her to bear his smeets otherwise.

Speaking of which, given that the old-fashioned method of making smeets was currently off-limits and didn't guarantee a pregnancy, he started researching for other, more reliable ways. He found a viable option for them to try. They'd both win with that one: he'd get the smeet he wanted for so long, and Tenn… He better start thinking of what she could win from this if he wanted to convince her...

...Or what she _thought_ she could win from this.

He started looking for more information on the Irkpad when he casually came across one of Invader Dren's old reports. Damn it, seeing his stupid face was a pain in the squeedly-spooch even now! As he erased it, though, he noticed it wasn't the only Dren-related content his wife had been seeing. The further he looked, the darker his expression became. No wonder Tenn was as cold as ever and didn't give him a chance! She was still bent on remembering Invader Dren. How was he supposed to win her heart if she did not forget him?

He sent a _PAK_ -mail to the head engineer on the bridge. " _Soldier, I want you to delete every single file with Invader Dren's name on it from the databases._ Now…" Wait a second, Ilk had mentioned that Tenn told her about Invader Dren's plans for conquest to help her get a clear idea of how to successfully complete her mission. " _Wait. First send Invader Ilk copies of the reports,_ then _erase them from the databases. And make sure Lady Tenn cannot access the copies in_ any _way._ "

The reply was prompt. " _Yes, sir!_ "

The doors to the lounge opened and his lovely wife came in. He quickly put the Irkpad back where he found it and forced himself to calm down. "What?" She asked. She was notably relaxed, but her lekku were up and straight. She was wary.

"About time, my dear. Where did you run off to?"

"I went to have a snack."

"Did you bring me any?"

"No."

Purple felt partly offended but decided not to press it any further. She was calm right now. Now's a good time to lay his offer on the table. "Come sit by me, my dear. We've got much to discuss." His gaze never left her as she approached warily and sat on the other side of the couch.

"Get over it. We are _both_ responsible for what happened if it makes _you_ feel better," she grunted.

He decided to let her get away with it this time. "As you say so. But that is not the reason I called you here." He took a sip of soda from his glass. "I have a proposal."

"About what?"

"Why, about our smeets, of course."

She got on the defensive. "I _told_ you, I'm not-!"

"Let me finish, woman." Another sip to calm himself down. Geeze, what an attitude! "You should be grateful that I have abstained myself from putting them inside your spooch-sac the traditional way."

"Then what is your… proposal?" Tenn asked, visibly disturbed by his words.

"Have you heard of external insemination?" Her following silence implied that she didn't. Purple sighed as he started pacing around. "It's the most used way to make smeets in the shorter population. A couple gives samples of their DNA to fertilize the female's egg with her mate's sperm inside a sterilized chamber. Then the female swallows the egg and it goes all the way down to her spooch-sac to develop."

"Why are you telling me that?"

"Since you don't want me to touch you, and I certainly _don't_ want to go against your wishes, I figured that would be the most viable option for us."

"Are you even listening? I don't want smeets!"

"I'm not done talking, my dear." This time he shot her a frown. That was enough to make her shut up, though she returned his glare. "If you give me a smeet, _I_ will give _you_ that of which you love the most..." He leaned closer to her to whisper right into her lekku. "Your freedom."

She froze, letting her glass of water drop and break, spilling its contents unto the carpet. Purple smirked. He had her where he wanted. He, of course, didn't intend to keep his word. By the time the smeet was born, he would have already won her love and she would not want to leave him. He'd make sure of that. Even if that weren't the case, her maternal instinct wouldn't allow her to leave her child behind, which gave him more time to find a way to have her love him.

But for now, he kept whispering the sweet little lies into her lekku. "Think about it, Tenn. If you do me _that_ little favor... if you agree to bear my child, I will let you go. You can go back to the battlefield, fight in the front lines and go back to the thrill of the fighting, bring honor to your…. _Our_ Empire." He stroked her cheek tenderly. She tensed but didn't move her face away. It had gotten into her. His smirk grew wider. "Just think about it, my dear." He planted the doubt in her head. Now he just needed to give her some time to consider her options. Her _only_ option.

At that moment, he received a _PAK_ -mail. " _It's done, my Tallest. Invader Ilk has been sent separate copies of Invader Dren's reports of his mission. And all evidence of Invader Dren has been deleted like he never existed at all._ "

How he wished that was _really_ true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Reference to The Smeet chapter 3.


	10. Down to Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they go retrieve Rouge, the Irkens find quite an unexpected surprise. Purple finds a romantic advisor in the least expected person.

Tenn stared at the oval-shaped green egg in her hand. "So I just have to eat it?"

The doctor nodded. "That's right. Your ovule was fertilized with your husband's sperm and placed inside that casing. Once you swallow it, it will go all the way to your spooch-sac and the shell will dissolve, but the ovule will remain intact and start its development. ***** "

"Then what?"

"It will take about seventy-two hours for the egg to arrive at the spooch-sac. Afterward, the pregnancy will be normal, just as if you had been fertilized the traditional way, so you don't have to worry about it."

Tenn stared down at the egg, pondering as to whether she should go forward with it or not until she heard Tallest Purple whispering in her lekku. " _Or_ we could try the usual way if you're not sure." Tenn quickly shoved the egg into her mouth and swallowed it hard.

While en route to Earth, they went through the external insemination procedure. Tenn gave a sample of ovules while her husband donated the sperm, which was then used to fertilize her eggs in a sterilized chamber. The one with the best-combined traits was then placed inside the protective shell she just swallowed. This method was faster and guaranteed a successful pregnancy.

Afterward, Tenn spent most of her time stuck in the lounge. Tallest Purple wouldn't allow her to partake in combat training nor any activities that would drain her of energy or require physical effort. He wanted to make sure her 'carelessness' wouldn't affect his smeet. Tenn hated being treated like the cheap glass figurines sold at the gift shop in Conventia. She was an Irken Invader, for goodness sake! She could take care of herself!

Okay, Tenn, calm down. You only have to endure this for a few months, then you'd be free again. This was the only reason she was playing along with this. She'd only give him a smeet, and he'd leave her be.

The Irken Armada arrived at Earth the next day. The original plan was to simply fetch Rouge and then leave, but Tallest Purple had a craving for earthen snacks and decided to go down to have some. He previously called Zim to announce their arrival, from what she heard. Part of Tenn was curious about Earth. After all, a planet that created such delicious snacks must be interesting, right? Alas, the problems started when she announced her intention to go down.

"You're _not_ coming!" Tallest Purple told her.

"I've been stuck in the lounge for days! I need fresh air!

"Not from a planet with Zim in it! He's capable of blowing you and my smeet up!"

"I'm not pregnant yet."

"Almost, it's the same!"

Tenn snapped. "Besides, Rouge will need a pouch to crawl into after whatever he experienced with Zim! I doubt you can give him that!"

The argument lasted for a good while until one of the technicians reminded them that Rouge was still down on the planet. Tallest Purple's current main concern was getting the smeet back, so in the end, he relented on the condition that she stay close to him at all times and keep a good distance away from Zim. Tenn didn't need to be told twice. She was fully aware of that defective's destructive tendencies, considering Zim himself didn't even realize he had them, which made him even more dangerous.

They flew down to Earth's surface on Tallest Purple's own shook cruiser and were closely followed by smaller ships just in case they were detected by the hyoomans. Zim claimed they weren't very advanced, but they weren't stupid enough to take anything he said seriously.

"He _was_ right about the onyon thing." Tenn pointed out as she watched the dark emptiness of space slowly change into a reddish sky.

"That was just a lucky guess. It doesn't really count."

"Seriously?"

"Ah, believe me, my dear, Red and I have known that maniac since the Academy. We _know_ all of his.. perks."

"From the Academy? Are you serious?"

He sighed. "You have no idea. Even back then he was always following us around. In that case, though, he wanted to challenge us to 'prove his superiority." Tallest Purple laughed. "He never stood a chance." Tenn pondered over it, it would explain why Zim acted as if he were buddies with the Tallest.

The computer started beeping a proximity alert, announcing an unidentified flying object. "Damn it, I think the hyoomans spotted us! Okay, don't panic, just remain seated and let me handle this… What on Irk?"

"What is it?" Tenn peeked into the console. It showed a tiny insect with tiny wings and black and yellow stripes. "What's that thing?"

Tallest Purple ignored her and instead snapped at the console. "Computer, what's this? How can that puny thing threaten an Irken Zhook cruiser-?" He didn't finish the sentence when suddenly the ship shook violently and spiraled downwards out of control. "WHAT THE-?!"

Tenn went flying out of her seat, but she was caught by Tallest Purple's arms before she could hit the window. That's when she noticed the same bug from the console pressed against the window, it's tiny little wings buzzing rapidly *****. "That thing is attacking us!"

"Computer, get rid of that bug or something!" It was too late to do anything, however. They were meters away from crash-landing. "Tenn, hang on, we're going to have a rough landing!" She would have if he weren't holding her against his body. Additionally, his _PAK_ legs had wrapped themselves around her. Tenn closed her eyes shut awaiting the impact.

…

Her lekku twitched when she heard hurried, frantic voices. Her eyelids cracked open. There were blurry green faces all over her, contorted into worried expressions. Ouch… her body was sore all over.

"She's awake! Thank Irk!"

"What happened…?" Tenn asked as she tried to sit up, but was gently pushed back.

"Try not to move much, ma'am! We still need to make sure you and the smeet are okay!"

"What?"

"Tallest Purple's orders, ma'am!"

Tenn growled. Of course, _that_ 's all he cares about. "I'm not pregnant yet!" She snapped, getting up. "Where is he, now that we're on it?!" She didn't end an answer. She spotted him on a first-aid stretcher, being checked over by medical drones: he looked even more bruised than she was. Then she remembered: he had _shielded_ her with his body.

She didn't know why. If she was partially _moved_ that he had protected her or if the loyal soldier programming in her _PAK_ took over, but she made her way over to him, shoving the shorter drones aside. "My tallest!" He was apparently unconscious. She tried shaking him awake. "My Tallest, my Tallest! Hey!" She repeated endlessly as she tried to elicit a reaction. He didn't deserve her pity, let alone her worry, yet here she was, desperately trying to awaken him. "PURPLE!" _That_ made his lekku twitch.

"He's waking up! My Tallest, can you hear me?"

" _Finally…_."

Tenn leaned in closer. "What?" Tallest Purple managed to open his eyes a bit as he smiled at her.

"You _finally_ called me by name."

Her cheeks went pink when she realized he was right. "What…?! I didn't-! You-!" Tenn yelled her frustration as she stomped away, cursing her husband's name endlessly. She was so mad she didn't bother telling her Elite guard to leave her alone as she made her way to the edge of the landing site.

They had crash landed in the middle of a forested area, it seemed. The shook cruiser was currently being carried away for intensive repairs, while the rest of the ships had landed in a circular formation around them as a protective measure in case they were attacked. Tenn angrily kicked a rock into some bushes, muttering under her breath. He was so… inconsiderate! She _had_ been worried he was seriously hurt (as much as she hated him, he was still an Almighty Tallest) and he just toyed with that! Grr! She kept kicking small stones imagining she was striking at his head but ended up hurting her feet when she kicked a larger one.

As she limped back to the camp, one of the guards on turn spotted an incoming ship on the night sky. The guards got on high alert until they recognized it as an Irken vessel. A _very_ outdated, familiar ship. It landed nearby, and its occupant jumped out of the cockpit. "My Tallest! There you are!"

Tallest Purple moaned. "Hello, Zim." He said bitterly.

"And hello to you too, Tenn!" Tenn didn't dignify him with an actual answer. She just waved an arm at him.

"Hey, Zim, if you're here, where is Rouge?"

"Ah, Rouge-smeet is back on my base under GIR's care."

To Tenn's surprise, this made Tallest Purple recover instantly and jump to his feet. "WHAT?! You left my nephew with that metal menace?!"

"Indeed! He is in very good hands, My Tallest! I decided to come to meet you so I could personally give you a complete tour."

"Zim, in case you haven't noticed, the zhook cruiser is dead." Tenn pointed out.

"Come along, my Tallest! I shall take you on my bee-proof voot runner!"

Tenn only needed to take a look at the puny ship once to tell it was outdated. "There's _no_ way I'm getting into that ship!"

"You'd rather go with the service drones, my dear?"

Tenn sent him a PAK-mail. _How come YOU of all people want to ride in the same ship as Zim?_

Tallest Purple frowned and promptly responded. _The sooner we get Rouge, the sooner we can get out of here. Now stop complaining and get your beautiful ass in the voot_.

Tenn pouted miserably, arms crossed and posture stiff as she climbed into the voot runner, followed by Tallest Purple and then Zim. As she imagined, it was ridiculously small, so she and Tallest Purple were cramped inside with Zim, which got her in uncomfortable proximity with her husband. No, wait, this would be an understatement. They were literally crammed together.

After five minutes of flying, she felt her back and legs going numb from the lack of blood flow thanks to the position she was in. She had to shift every now and then, trying to find a comfortable position.

"How long till we get there, Zim?" Tallest Purple grumbled, managing to release his arm. "I'm getting a cramp in here!"

"We're almost there, my Tallest! I shall first show you the hyooman settlement where I built my base, and the main source of the hyooman snacks!"

"Zim, we are sore, tired _and_ stressed! I spent hours looking for my nephew because I thought he had thrown himself out of the airlock, and my ship was taken down by an Irk-damned bee! I'm not in the mood to see a hyooman settlement…" Tallest Purple trailed off as the city came into view. Tenn soon saw why.

The city down below had been painted in Irken colors, and wherever they looked they saw wide, bright screens displaying Zim's grinning face. Additionally, there were lots of phrases such as 'Zim, the savior of walruses' or 'Thank you for cleaning the air'. Tenn had to run her eyes a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"My Tallest, I bid you welcome to Zimtopia!" Tenn glanced over to Tallest Purple, expecting him to criticize the name. He didn't.

Soon they came to their destination. Zim had kept his base in the same place, and though it had been modified to be bigger and far more intimidating, it still stood in the first place he had built it. Tenn wondered why he hadn't taken any of the planet rulers' own living place for himself, as Irken Invaders usually did as a way to deal a heavy blow to the population's morale, but then she remembered Zim was _not_ an Invader. And this is what made this turn of events even more shocking.

"Welcome to my Base of Operations, my Tallest!" Zim spoke loudly as he led them around the building. "I had to make considerable expansions ever since I took over this puny planet."

"We can see that…" Tenn heard one of the Elite soldiers mutter from behind. They were in shock. Nobody expected him to actually succeed in his fake mission. But Tallest Purple was perhaps the most shocked, given he had yet to utter a word. He just glanced around at Zim's statues, his jaw hanging open. Tenn was the first to snap out of it.

"Hey, Zim, where is Rouge?" She asked.

"Oh, right!" Zim brought his communicator from his _PAK_. "GIR, bring Rouge-smeet!"

" _Okie-dokie_!"

"They will meet us up ahead, my Tallest. I had the hyooman prepare a select snacking buffet for you-"

Tallest Purple perked up his lekku. "Did you say snacks?" This made Zim smile ear-to-ear.

"The best snacks and sugary food the hyoomans can offer, my Tallest!"

* * *

"SO GOOD!" Tenn watched as her husband gorged himself on a round cake with various layers and a coating of a dark, reflective sweet substance. Admittedly, this 'mirror cake' _was_ delicious.

Some hyooman servants had received them in what seemed to be the mess hall, dressed in black and white clothing. As Zim promised, there was a long table with a wide, colorful display of desserts and snacks from different regions and continents of the planet, prepared by the best snack-making drones on Earth. She herself felt her mouth watering at the sight. She, Tallest Purple and Zim was seated on a long, white table. The hyoomans would rotate with heavy plates with a smaller variety of desserts such as cupcakes, muffins, amongst other things. They'd also bring them soft drinks.

"Hey, you! Bring me that marshmallow cake! No, the part with the colorful cream! And now that you're on it, bring me those chocolate leaves! Tenn, do you want something?"

"Well, that chiscak ***** looks nice…"

"And bring my wife two slices of that chiscak!"

"I am glad you are enjoying yourselves, my Tallest!" Tenn had never seen Zim so happy, not even back in the Academy on the few occasions he got to beat his opponent.

"Who knew hyoomans made such tasty desserts!" Tallest Purple savored a brownie filled with marshmallow. "Sweet Irk, this one tastes like doughnuts and brownies combined!"

"There _are_ brownie doughnuts if you'd like to try them, sir." One of the hyoomans said.

"I certainly do!" Zim's defective robot crossed the door at that moment. Tallest Purple perked up his lekku, his face brightening when he saw a familiar smeet in the robot's head. "Rouge!"

Rouge's lekku went straight as he looked over at him. " _Squeak_! _Squeak_!" Tenn had to admit it was rather cute to see him holding out his tiny arms for his uncle, especially when the robot came to hand him over and Tallest Purple started playing with the smeet.

"Bye, little green piggy! Waffles!" The robot started eating the big tower of the said dish from the table, smearing liquid chocolate and the pollen-based substance known as honey all over his face.

"GIR, those are not for you!" Zim looked even funnier when nervous. "Didn't you leave your taquitos somewhere?"

"My taquitos." The SIR (or GIR… What did the 'G' stand for, anyway?) pointed at the kitchen. "My taquitos! TAQUITOS!"

"Distract him until my Tallest are done with their snacking time," Zim muttered to one of the hyoomans as GIR disappeared through the kitchen doors.

"Hey, Zim, how did you… _conquer_ Earth?" Tenn found herself asking. She couldn't help being curious. Zim was a _terrible_ invader.

Even Tallest Purple was wondering the same thing. "Yeah, Zim. What did you do?" He asked. Considering he and Tallest Red had devised the entire plot to keep Zim away from Operation Impending Doom 2, this must be pretty overwhelming for him.

Zim´s grin widened even more if that was even possible. "I was wondering when you'd ask, my Tallest!" He snapped his fingers and a female hyooman brought forward some wide pasteboard with crude drawings on it. The first one read ' _How Zim conquered Earth'_ , crudely written in colorful crayons. Additionally, there was a drawing of Zim on top of the planet, holding a flag. It looked like it had been drawn by a smeet.

"It all began with a when I, the great Zim, decided to take a break from my conquering plans. Instead, I decided to do something about the earthen water. I wasn't going to offer you a planet with filthy, poisonous water, after all! So I researched and it turns out the hyoomans stupidly contaminated their own water to the point of it being harmful to other species besides themselves."

"That's stupid."

"Isn't it? Anyhow, I created a water filter that purified Earth's water bodies, making it harmless to Irkens." Zim demonstrated by splashing a glass of water over a soldier. "See? Well, the hyoomans noticed the change and began looking for the person responsible for it." Tenn noticed how the hyooman shifted the drawn pasteboards as Zim narrated, showing different scenes of his tale. "It turns out they had been trying to fix Earth's water issues for years, but even though slightly advanced, their lame technology was yet to reach that level. In fact, after more research, I realized the hyoomans were trying to make up to a lady called 'Mother Nature' for crippling the planet, so I decided to take advantage of it."

And so Zim went on saying how he started fixing the hyoomans' blunders, most notably the planet's severely crippled ozone layer which in turn caused nearly all of the other environmental problems. The hyoomans started kissing the ground he walked on ever since. Tenn hated to admit it, she _really_ did, but that strategy was… good. Unorthodox, but hey, at least he conquered the planet. This would explain why he had been sending so many desserts lately.

She subtly glanced at Tallest Purple. He had _that_ look on his face and his lekku were flat. He took a deep breath. "C-C...Cong…" He stuttered lots of words almost inaudibly as he dug his gloved claws into the table. This was _almost_ amusing. Finally, he managed to more-or-less utter an understandable sentence in grit teeth. " _You did a g-g… good job... Zim_ …" Tenn snickered, but had to quickly look away when he glared at her. He stood up and subtly motioned her to do the same. "Okay, Zim, it was nice catching up and all that, but Tenn and I must _really_ get going."

Zim's mood instantly dropped. "Y-You're leaving so soon, my Tallest?" He jumped in front of them before they could leave. "I am yet to show you the rest of this planet's resources!"

"Yeah, it's a shame, but... Well, you know, Tallest duty calls. We've got lots of other planets to blow up, races to enslave, you know, all of that…" Tenn knew he was merely looking for an excuse to leave. Operation Impending Doom III had only begun, and the Invaders were only beginning their missions. But knowing Zim, he couldn't figure that out until much later.

Tenn couldn't believe this, but she didn't _want_ to leave. It would be harder for Tallest Purple to be alone with her down here since Zim would follow him around all the time trying to gain more approval. She found an excuse to stay when she noticed Rouge yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Um… Purple," she said, knowing that calling him by his name would call his attention. "Rouge is tired. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend the night here so he can rest."

"Y-Yes, that's right, my Tallest! Just as Lady Tenn said, Rouge-smeet had lots of fun today and it drained his energy levels considerably!" As a desperate measure, Zim held out a sandwich on a platter. "I can get you more snacks!"

Tenn felt a shiver down her spine when Zim referred to her in such a… formal manner. A few months ago he would have been rude when they were equals… Well, almost equals. She had a higher position than him, considering he had been demoted to Fast Food Drone _and_ she was taller.

Tallest Purple rubbed his chin and looked down at Rouge. The smeet had curled up in his hands, nibbling on his larger finger drowsily. He sighed. "Fine. I guess we could stay _one_ night so that Rougemaye take a break."

Zim's face lit up again. "Excellent! Please follow Zim! I shall personally escort you to room worthy of your Almighty presence!"

Rather, he took out the Base's design pad and created an extra room right there and then. Tenn looked around at the new 'guest room'. It was decent, but it wasn't enough for Tallest Purple, who took the tablet and made modifications to give the bedchambers some other stuff like a midnight snack bar, a bigger bed, a cradle for Rouge and a screen. If they were going to stay for _one_ night, why bother with all of that stuff?

"Ah, my Tallest, one more thing! I shall assign a hyooman slave to cater to your needs. SOMEBODY BRING THE DIB-SLAVE!" Tenn had to cover her lekku. What's with Zim and his yelling?!

Two tall hyoomans approached a few minutes later. They were dragging another by the arms. This one had a sort of scythe in his head. Tenn noted this one had a shock collar, unlike the rest of the hyoomans. Guess he was a troublemaker. "You won't get away with this, Zim-! GYAAAH!" The hyooman shrieked as the collar sent jolts of electricity throughout his body*.

Zim laughed in sadistic glee. "Keep resisting, Dib-stink! It's hilarious to see you writhe in pain!" Tallest Purple coughed impatiently. "Oh, that's right! My Tallest, the Dib-hyooman here will be catering to your needs during your stay!"

"The hell I will- AAH! THE PAIN!"

"Hey, Zim, do you have a remote controller to do that whenever I feel like it?"

"Certainly, my Tallest!"

* * *

Admittedly, this wasn't in his plans. To be honest, he imagined he'd just get Rouge and leave the little backwater planet. And what does he find? Zim, the psychopath, the greatest threat to the IRken Empire, the defective... _succeeded!_ He couldn't believe it. He almost didn't, but everything around him told him otherwise. And he did it not by destroying the planet, but by fixing it. Red was _so_ going to get a heart attack when he learns of this. He couldn't say this was such a _bad_ thing, though. He got to eat lots of new snacks and sweets he never even dreamed existed.

The _bad_ thing was that even if Zim succeeded, he was still as annoying as ever. He'd come to the guest room every half-an-hour to ask if he wanted something, no matter how many times he told him to let them sleep. He ended up waking Rouge up a few times, and it took another half an hour to calm him down and lull him to sleep.

Eventually, Purple had enough and decided he wanted more of that mirror cake and some nachos. He remotely electrocuted the Dib-slave until he arrived and had him bring said snacks. He had to eat outside the room, though, lest he wanted to awaken Rouge _again_ , so he made his way back to the nearest living room to quietly enjoy his snacks. Unfortunately, the peace didn't last very long.

"There you are, my Tallest!"

Purple sighed. "What now, Zim?" He asked, rubbing his temple in dismay. It was just like in the Academy.

"I didn't find you sleeping and I assumed you needed something, so I went looking for you to ask you in person!"

"I'm _fine,_ Zim. Would you mind going away so I can enjoy my snacks in peace?"

"As you wish, my Tallest! Zim will make sure no one bothers you!" As Zim was about to leave, a female hyooman with violet hair (for an inferior species she certainly has a good taste) stomped her way in. Zim panicked. "G-Gaz! What are you doing here?"

Purple knew something was... off about this female as soon as he lay eyes on her. She had this dark air around her. His squeedly-spooch sunk by just being near her. He had the feeling it would be wise not to make her angry, especially when she glared at Zim with squinted eyes, holding out an empty box of sugary corn pieces. "Did you eat the franken chokies? ***** "

Zim denied it, though his face said otherwise. "It must have been GIR! Yeah, you know how he tends to get his slimy hands on food when no one's looking!" How come that robot could eat?

She didn't seem to believe him, but instead of pummeling Zim as he expected, the hyooman merely grunted. "One of these days you should put a leash on that robot."

"I already tried it and he ended up eating it!"

"Look, I don't care what you do or how you do it, but keep him away from my pizza or I will-!" Purple felt a shiver down his spine as the dark air intensified, but Zim interrupted her before she could go on.

"Okay, okay, I got it! I'll keep GIR away from your stash of pizza, Gaz! Now would you mind, I was talking with my Tallest before you got here..."

Gaz raised an eyebrow at him. Purple felt a shiver down his spine. "So you're one of Zim's leaders? I thought you'd be taller." His eye twitched. Just who did this hyooman think she is?! He didn't respond as he should because he wasn't going to risk his superior ass.

"Charming," he said simply, narrowing his eyes at Gaz

"Okay, Gaz, why don't you go play videogames? Zim shall join you shortly!" Zim started ushering her away nervously. Purple couldn't help but stare at the defective's hand as it came into contact with her alien meat. She looked like she didn't like to be touched, but allowed _him_ to do so.

"What is your relationship with that hyooman?" He found himself asking when she left.

"Ah, the Gaz-demon is Zim's consort, my Tallest!"

"Consort? As in...?" His squeedly-spooch squirmed in disgust. He had heard of Irken defectives who became mates with other species. Disgusting! Though frankly, he had also heard of previous Tallest who did the same thing, so who was he to judge? Though frankly, he was surprised Zim of all people got himself a girlfriend. He was never that popular at the Academy due to his short height and egomaniac tendencies.

Wait a minute...If Zim could win that alien over, then whatever method he used must have been _very_ effective. Could it be possible that perhaps...? What are you thinking, Purple? There was _no_ way he was going to ask _Zim_ for romantic advice! But yet none of _his_ methods had worked so far, Red was not there to lend him a hand and the Irkenet was not helping at all. At this rate, the universe would implode on itself before he got a willing kiss from Tenn. _But hey, she_ did _call me by name twice already. That's good, isn't it_? He thought.

He ignored most of Zim's following conversation about Earth's valuable resources until... "Anyway, my Tallest: since you didn't have a proper honeymoon with Tenn, I figured-"

"Hey, how do you know...?" Purple sighed. "You know what? Nevermind." There was no point in asking. It was Zim they were talking about. "What were you saying?"

"Well, Earth has quite some romantic spots where hyooman couples go spend their honeymoons and make hyooman smeets. If you wish to spend some quality time, I could show you some of the most effective ones."

"You convinced me with the 'romantic' part." Okay, perhaps he _did_ know what he was doing. Purple sighed in dismay. _I can't believe I'm doing this_. He took a deep breath. "So... what exactly do you know about 'romance'?"

Oh, no. Zim grinned. He _hated_ when Zim got those grins on his face. "Ah! Do you wish to hear romantic advice from Zim? I assure you that with _my_ help, you'll be winning over Tenn's blood-pumping organ in no time! Okay, let's start with the gifts..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Reference to Men in Black: The Series. In one episode, Jay accidentally an egg that got him pregnant.
> 
> *Reference to Attack of the Saucer Morons. Mostly a humorous one. Like, all Irken ships are actually susceptible to bees. Why not? I mean, bees are bees.
> 
> *Cheesecake. I think Irkens tend to mispronounce earth words, not only Zim.
> 
> *Who else thinks Zim would do this to Dib once he conquers Earth? I do!
> 
> *Reference to Gaz, Taster of Pork.
> 
> Yeah, I decided to have Zim have conquered Earth already in this fic. But not in the way you guys imagined. I thought of this after watching the documentary Our Planet narrated by David Attenborough (nice film) and seeing just how we are destroying our planet little by little. If it isn't global warming, it's deforestation, and so on.
> 
> I imagine Zim would have the technology to fix all of that (obviously). And if he did, he'd win over the humans. Ironically, he wasn't even trying to conquer Earth when he fixed the first environmental problem, or even help humanity. He just decided to take a break for one day and decided to do something about the water pollutants to stop worrying about Earth's water burning him. Of course, he indirectly ended up benefiting humanity in the process.


	11. Tales from Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenn has awkward moments with Purple. Rouge finds a nice pouch to sleep in. The Resisty receives a tempting offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! I managed to update after almost two weeks! Or more, I think. Okay, only two more months of school and I'll be DONE!
> 
> From here we'll be getting a bit more into action. You'll see why.

" _Zim WHAT?!_ "

Purple hurriedly shushed his co-Tallest with a half-growl, glancing back worriedly at Tenn and Rouge, both asleep. "Lower your voice!"

" _Sorry, But…! Come on,_ Zim?! _He_ actually _did it?!_ "

 _Sigh_. "Oh, trust me, I didn't believe it a first either."

Red was silent for a while as he processed the news. " _Does that planet at least have any_ valuable _resource?_ " Purple's eyes lit up and he described to Red all of the desserts he had tried today. " _Well, if you think they are worth bearing_ Zim _, then I believe you."_ He still looked like he couldn't believe it, however. " _How is Rouge, by the way?_ "

"He's fine," Purple chuckled nervously, omitting the part where Rouge had used the teleporters on the _Massive_. "Sleeping alongside Tenn. Did you and Lena finally make up?"

" _You could say so. But when Ilk called in her disguise, she fainted thinking she had been discovered_. _That night she made me sleep in the couch again._ " Purple snickered. " _I don't find it any funny, what if it_ really _had been a kryvtor?_ "

"On the bright side, last time she called she mentioned she'd finally start her reconnaissance now that she's got her disguise _._ And did she show you DIR's frill-neck mode? It's pretty cool!"

Red looked proud for a moment. " _Well, of course, she's got_ my _superior DNA, it was pretty obvious she'd be a natural Invader. I got the feeling she'll be the first to call for the Organic Sweep soon_."

Purple was sure that wouldn't be the case. Sure, so far she was proving to be a more than capable Invader, but she was still Ilk. The Ilk that had befriended a screwhead and who never liked torturing Vortian slaves for fun. He was sure she'd actually be amongst the last because she'd try to find a way to conquer the planet that didn't involve genocide. He just hoped she wouldn't get _too_ attached to the lizards, though.

" _Anyway, how are you and Tenn doing in the romantic department?_ "

"We're progressing," Purple said. He decided not to mention the external insemination just yet. He wanted to surprise Red and Lena when they returned. "Zim mentioned this planet has a lot of romantic spots, so-"

Red raised his lekku in alarm. " _Heyheyhey, stop it right there! Did you ask Zim for romantic advice? You forgot to upgrade your_ PAK _again, didn't you? That's the worst idea ever, even for_ you!"

"I know it doesn't sound… good, but if you saw the kind of hyooman he got for a mate, you'd agree with me that he _must_ have done it right if she _accepted_ him."

" _Purple, you can't compare a lowly, under-developed mammal to an Irken! What even makes you think that his method will work with Tenn?_ " Purple heard Lena's voice from offscreen. " _Crap, I gotta go. Just remember,_ don't _take whatever Zim says too seriously!_ " The transmission was cut off.

Usually, he would have dismissed whatever Red said, but as much as he hated to admit it, he was right. As desperate as he was, how did he even think of asking Zim for romantic advice? He was never that popular on the Academy due to his destructive tendencies. And hyoomans probably had different, much lower standards for mates than Irkens. What if instead of helping, Zim's 'methods' only pushed Tenn further away?

But Purple's greatest flaw was his impatience. He was already craving for _it_ , and though he did manage to get away from the _Massive_ a few times to satiate his sexual appetite in _Orgydia_ , none of those females would satisfy him like he imagined Tenn would. He still remembered their wedding night, the one (and sadly only) time he fully touched her. If the pleasure drones were cheap soft drinks from the nearest vending machine, his beautiful Tenn was an elixir of life. This desperation for more was what drove him to actually consider Zim's advice in the first place. He _needed_ to cling to the smallest glimmer of hope of winning Tenn over.

As he went to join bed, he saw Rouge curled up right next to her abdomen. Big, round blue eyes glowed in the dark, staring at him warily. Purple almost chuckled. Little Rouge was so smart for his age. "Don't worry, little guy," he whispered as he tucked himself in. "Not tonight."

* * *

Tenn was awakened hours later by an uncomfortable dryness in her mouth. Reluctantly, she got off the bed to look for something to drink. She could easily have asked any of the hyooman servants to bring it to her, but Tenn was used to getting her own stuff, and she wasn't going to change that. It was the only autonomy she had left, in her opinion.

As she slipped into a gown, she noticed Tallest Purple was not in bed. Thank the Control Brains. She took a quick peek into Rouge's cradle. He was sound asleep, his tiny hands grasping mini-Lena tightly. He was still as adorable as ever. Tenn felt a shiver down her spine. To think that in a few months she'd be watching her own smeet sleeping just like this… _his_ smeet. That knowledge was enough to almost make her lose any affection for the child.

It was early morning, so most of the place was deserted for now. Well, almost. Tenn spotted some of those dreaded bees buzzing around the window, trying to land on the flowers decorating it. How could those puny things bring down an Irken zhook cruiser? Guess she'd never know. After some wandering around, she managed to find the kitchen. Unfortunately, she also found the last person she wanted to see.

"Hey, Tenn, try these! They are tasty!" Tenn ignored Tallest Purple and grabbed a soda from the drink. It tasted like orange. "How is Rouge?"

"Asleep," Tenn said bluntly.

"Hey, did you taste the ice cream? Hyoomans have invented some interesting flavors, such as bubblegum and even cookies and cream!" Tallest Purple was taking big spoonfuls of said dessert. He licked his lips and took a look at the empty vase. "Aw, it ran out. Would you mind getting me some?"

"Why don't you ask a hyooman to do so?"

"Do you see any around here? I'm not going to waste my snacking time in looking around for hyooman drones."

Tenn raised a lekku. "Then get it yourself. Or what? Are you _that_ lazy?"

Tallest Purple frowned. "As my _wife_ , you're obligated to do as I say. Besides, you're standing right next to the freezer where it's kept." She wanted to keep protesting, but the look he was giving her let her know she wasn't going to slip off the hook that easily this time. Muttering angrily under her breath, Tenn opened the door to the freezer.

Brr! It was freezing in there! Inside there were lots of metal shelves in which various things were placed, mostly ice cream containers, but she spotted some ice statues of Zim. Tenn rubbed her forearms to warm herself up a bit. Damn it, stupid gown! She better finds the stupid ice cream so she can get out of here. "What flavor?!" She asked.

"The yellow one! I think it's called vanilla!"

Tenn took a closer look at the containers, but she found herself unable to read the characters. Damn it, the hyoomans' writing system hadn't yet been uploaded into the databases. As she lifted the containers' lids, she realized that at least five of these flavors had a yellow color in them. "I can't tell which one!" She heard Tallest Purple groaning in exasperation.

"Seriously, woman, you can't even find ice cream?" He came into the freezer, rubbing his arms. "Damn it, it _is_ cold in here! Let's hurry before I get a cold!" He started dipping a spoon into each of the containers and then taking it into his mouth to taste it until he found the one he wanted. As they tried to take it, however, it turned out it was stuck to the metal shelf due to some ice crystals formed at its bottom. Tenn tried to use a blow torch, Tallest Purple stopped her. "No! You'll make it melt!"

"I don't care, I just want to get out of here before my lekku freeze!" Tenn snapped.

Before they could argue any further, they jumped at a sudden and loud slam. Turning towards the door, they found it closed shut. Tenn dropped the blow torch and stared at their only way out of this frozen hell. No, no, no, no! Both she and Tallest Purple ran to the door and tried to open, but in their hurry, they ended up breaking off the door's knob.

"Damn it, look what you did!"

" _Me_?! _You_ pulled the knob!"

"You didn't make sure the door was blocked before coming in!"

She could not believe this. Instead of just accepting he's partly to blame for this, he tried to pin the entirety of the blame on her. "Why would I when you were the one who came in last?!" Tenn groaned. "Just forget it! I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you!"

The next ten minutes were spent banging against the door while yelling, hoping someone would hear them. As time went on, however, it was evident nobody would come into the kitchen for a good while. Tenn cursed and kicked a nearby ice cube. "Damn it! At this rate, we'll freeze to death!"

"What are you saying?!"

"Freeze to death! That's what happens when you get _stuck_ inside a freezer!"

"Oh, please, we're Irkens! A little cold is not enough to-ACHOO!" Tallest Purple sneezed.

Tenn started rubbing her forearms in an attempt to keep herself warm, but it's hard considering her only protection against the cold was a thin sleeping gown. What a 'good' way to die, stuck in a freezer with the man that ruined her life. Stop thinking like that, Tenn. She was going to think of something; she always did.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, my Tallest." Tenn retorted simply, stepping away from him. To her chagrin, he stepped closer.

"Well, since it seems we're going to be stuck here for a good while, we should try to keep our body warmth. How about we get…" his hand slowly slithered behind her to wrap around her. "...comfortable?" Tenn responded with a strong elbowing right in his ribs and a loud hiss.

"Get your filthy existence away from me."

Tallest Purple's only response was a painful growl. "Woman, you're _so_ lucky that you're carrying my smeet…!"

* * *

Thankfully, GIR happened to enter the kitchen not long after. They had to bargain their freedom, but eventually, he let them out after they promised him half of the ice cream ration for his waffles. Afterward, Tenn buried herself under at least four furry blankets to get warm again… Okay, Tallest Purple was the one to put her there to make sure 'his smeet wouldn't get a cold before even being born'. Tenn repeated for the hundredth time that she wasn't pregnant yet, but he didn't seem to listen, or he did and didn't care. Probably the latter.

Rouge finally woke up, and the first thing he did was look for a pouch to crawl into. Tenn had been the first option, but upon finding none, he hid deep within the blankets and refused to come out except to eat. Guess he hadn't had a good time around here. She wanted to leave as soon as possible too, frankly. Being around Zim was unbearable; he might have gotten taller and conquered the planet, but he hadn't changed a single bit. His ego was still the size of the _Massive_.

Then Tallest Purple comes and turns out with his. "Bad news, my dear. The zhook cruiser is _finite_ , and it'll be a while before they can get another one ready. And the ration of snacks I ordered is going to take a little while too, so, _unfortunately_ , we're stuck here until then." Tenn found it odd: she imagined _he_ of all people would be in the greatest hurry to leave, given he despised Zim. But he didn't sound that upset at all.

"So what now, then?" She muttered.

His grin widened. "Well, instead of just being stuck in here all day with Zim, I figured we could take a look at this puny planet and see what kind of snacks it has to offer. From what Zim says, every continent has its own variations."

"Can't they bring it here?"

"That takes too long and I want to taste them _now_. So come on, there's a ship waiting for us already and I'm hungry! "

Tenn grunted, but nevertheless, she slipped into her robes. It took them a long while to find Rouge amongst the blanket nest, though, and when they did find him he clung to his 'hideout' like those little parasites that often clung to Irkens and had to be removed with the cleansing gel. It wasn't until Tenn changed into the robe she had sewn the pouch in that Rouge finally let go of the blanket.

Thankfully, the spittle runner they used was more spacious than Zim's diminutive voot runner, and she could scoot away from Tallest Purple this time. Even better, Zim and that defective robot of his didn't come along in this ship but instead flew in his voot runner.

Tenn stared out the window to take a better look at this planet. Aside from the futuristic cities and the settlements that bore the Irken Empire's banner, it mostly consisted of woods, fields and a large mass of water that composed most of the planet's surface. Zim called it an ocean, and it held great importance in Earth's ecosystems, as it was filled with edible aquatic fauna. One of his most 'brilliant plans' consisted of creating millions of microscopic nanobots that eradicated the garbage accumulated in the ocean over the centuries.

The two ships crossed one of the oceans separating the continents (Atlantic ocean, according to a map she downloaded from the hyooman's databases to kill the time) and landed in a city known as Venice, famous for its water channels; the main entertainment there consisted of sitting in a long boat and being toured around the city through the maze-like water streets. Tallest Purple claimed to feel curious about it, and the next hour was spent in a 'gondola' around Venice with a dish consisting of slimy, motionless red worms called spaghetti in Tallest Purple's lap. Admittedly, it was tasty, but as she was slurping unto a _very_ long spaghetti, she didn't realize Tallest Purple was also slurping _that_ one and they ended up exchanging saliva in the process *****. Tenn threw up on the gondola afterward.

During the first trip, Tenn thought she saw a Vortian. She initially assumed she was imagining things until she saw a Planet Jacker pass by with a white-and-black stuffed doll. Soon she noticed there were aliens of different breeds roaming around. Judging from a few conversations she managed to hear, she figured all these aliens heard that Earth was not only out of Irken jurisdiction, but it also wasn't marked for conquest, so they decided to come here to escape from slavery.

The next stop was a large city called Parees. To her chagrin, Tallest Purple opted to have lunch on top of a tall tower just because it was tall and he liked it (she made sure to her keep Rouge inside the pouch _all_ the time). Midway through the meal, GIR showered them with a strange plant called mistletoe. It caused them an allergic reaction, which manifested in a green rash. Much like on Venice, she saw lots of aliens touring around, particularly aquatic species.

Finally, their last stop for the day was a large earthen fauna reserve in the continent named Afreeca. Tenn admitted _that_ one did sound interesting; part of her was curious as to this planet's non-sentient life forms. To her utter dismay, however, she learned that his zoo-reserve thing didn't use cages, and instead all the animals roamed freely as they pleased.

"Wouldn't it be better if we fly above them?" she stated matter-of-factly. "I certainly don't want to die at the hands of an earthen beast."

"Actually, ma'am, the experience is much more enjoyable on land." One of the hyoomans explained. This one was of a breed with darker skin and eyes but otherwise looked like any other hyooman.

"Technically all we'd do is walk around and watch," Zim explained happily.

The tour began, with none other than Zim as the guide. Tenn noted that although there weren't actual cages, she saw a nearly-invisible shield barrier that kept the beasts away. Even more shocking, inside some of those fields was a very different climate. It must have taken a _lot_ of work to obtain these results. Either Zim's _PAK_ wasn't as defective as they thought, or there was a hyooman who was smarter than average and did all the work with the Irken technology… Tenn was betting for the latter.

Rouge started to squeal in discomfort as he poked out his head. Tenn sighed. "He's thirsty again."

"With this heat, how wouldn't he?" Tallest Purple muttered, wiping some sweat off his brow. "Zim, bring something to drink!"

"Right away, my Tallest! Dib-hyooman, bring something to drink!" He had brought that one? A painful yell confirmed it, especially as she spotted a familiar black trench coat disappearing through the crowd.

Tallest Purple raised his lekku in a direction. "Hey, look at that!" He rushed towards one of the cages and pointed at a very tall creature with brown spots. "Look, Tenn, it's tall! I want it!" He said with childlike enthusiasm. Tenn raised an eyebrow.

"That animal wouldn't fit in the _Massive_."

"Then have it sent back to Irk, but I _want it_! Zim, I want that animal!"

"Wouldn't introducing an invading species on another planet be catastrophic for the environment?" Tenn glanced at _GIR_. It was the first time the defective SIR said something that actually made sense.

"Silence, GIR!"

"I don't think it really matters, there are no animals on Irk other than the Irkorses." she retorted. It didn't really matter if they added an animal to the Tallest Tower's garden, it _did_ feel a little empty during those days.

"Zim shall make some arrangements to mail the geeraf-beast to your mighty palace, my Tallest!"

Zim ran off just as the Dib-beast returned with a vase of soda. "Here's your stupid drink, alien-scum- GYAAA!" he fell to the ground and twisted in pain after Tallest Purple grabbed the soda and pressed the remote control to activate the shock collar.

"That's no way to talk to your Tallest, hyooman." Tallest Purple sneered.

"You're not my tallest-! AARRGH!"

"I beg to differ, considering I'm way taller than you. Hey, Tenn, would you mind giving Rouge his drink so I can enjoy this?"

As Tenn looked into the pouch, she found it flat. Confused, she took a peek inside. She went pale. "Um, your Tallest…"

"Tenn, come on, you had already called me by my name! Can't you keep doing it?"

Tenn murmured angrily. "Okay, _Purple_ , I just wanted to let you know we have a little problem here!" As he looked at her in confusion, she showed him the empty pouch. His eyes opened wide as the vase slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

"Rouge?!" Tallest Purple abruptly opened the pouch to make sure he wasn't in there and frantically started looking around. "Damn it, not again! Rouge!" Tenn joined in, informing some nearby hyoomans to help with the search. Sweet Irk, of all the places for Rouge to crawl out of the pouch it had to be precisely here, where there was a good chance of him getting eaten.

"Alien-scum, are you looking for a tiny Irken with blue eyes?"

"Did you see it?!"

Dib-hyooman pointed at one of the habitats. Tenn and Tallest Purple shouted simultaneously. "ROUGE!" The smeet was crawling towards a two-legged, furry animal with a long tail. Tenn noticed a tiny head sticking out of a pouch in one of the creatures *****. She realized what was going on.

"SOMEBODY PUT THOSE ANIMALS TO SLEEP BEFORE THEY EAT MY NEPHEW!"

"Wallabies are actually harmless… most of the time." Dib-hyooman said. "Unless they have offspring, that is."

"You mean that thing sticking its head out of the pouch?" Tenn asked.

"Yeah. Marsupials carry their young in a pouch during their first months while it develops. Kinda like that baby Irken *****." Rouge clumsily made his way to a wallaby with an empty pouch and managed to crawl into it. The wallaby looked down at its pouch in confusion when a green head poked out of it with a happy squeak. Tenn thought the animal would attack, but instead, it licked Rouge's head.

Tallest Purple looked like he was going to faint. He glared at the Irken guards and drones. "Don't just stand there! Go save my nephew!"

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers scrambled to get into the habitat, but their attempts to catch the wallaby were mostly fruitless. The wallaby ran (or rather, hopped) away from them, and this altered the rest of the Wallabies. Some of the soldiers were sent flying by a kick or received nasty bites and scratches. Tenn would have laughed if it weren't Rouge's life on the line; the smeet looked like he was having a good time, though.

As if it couldn't get any worse, the Irkpad rang. Tallest Purple went pale. "It's Lena! Shishitshitshit! What do we do?! Should we take the call?!"

"I think we should."

He looked at her as if she had gone insane. "What, are you nuts?! If she finds out about this, it'll be our necks!"

"And if we leave her hanging, she'll know something _is_ going on, don't you think?" Tenn snatched the Irkpad from his grasp and took the call before he could do something to stop her. Lena appeared on the screen.

" _Tenn? Where is Purple?_ "

"R-Right here, Lena!" Tallest Purple snatched the Irkpad, grinning nervously and trying to block the view. Unfortunately, the soldiers' yells of pain and the commotion in the Wallabies' habitat reached Lena's lekku.

" _What is that scandal?_ "

"Oh, nothing in particular! We came to a… zoo to spend the day! Turns out Earth has _quite_ the creatures living in it!" Tallest Purple spoke through grit teeth. "Where's Red, now that we're on it?" His lekku twitched as he heard the unmistakable sound of… Tenn narrowed her eyes a bit as she twitched her own lekku. Was that puking?

Lena sighed. " _Let's say his squeedly-spooch couldn't take a glass of water. I_ told _him to have a soda, but no, he insisted he could take anything._ _Anyway, where's Rouge?_ "

Tallest Purple went pale but did his best to dissimulate it. "Oh, he's fine! He's like a little angel! You know, those mini-hyoomans with tiny wings!"

" _Let me talk to him._ " Tenn gulped.

"Oh, that! Well, you see…! Rouge is currently… He's…!"

"He's in one of the games!" Tenn said quickly, grinning nervously. "He got interested in one of the mechanic animals and…!"

Tallest Purple joined in. "He got in it! He's still on the first lap around the kid's area!" Another yell. "Hear that? even the drones are having fun!"

" _Okay, can you show me an image at least?_ "

Tallest Purple panicked. He quickly grabbed a plastic bag and covered the Irkpad's screen with it while making strange sounds as he spoke. "What? I can't hear…! Losing signal…! Gotta go…!"

" _Wait_ —!" The call was ended.

Tenn looked back at the habitat. The fallen soldiers had collapsed unto a pile, all of them covered in scratches and bite marks. On top of them was none other than Rouge, happily tucked into the wallaby's pouch.

* * *

Lard Nar stared at the screen's static, fidgeting with his fingers nervously.

Of all the things that could go wrong, they _never_ expected the _Massive_ to arrive at this backwater planet. Their informant had said 'Earth' was marked for conquest, plus the star charts showed it was far enough from the Empire's borders, so they guessed it would be a nice place to hide… That and they had delicious snacks and a pretty cool zoo. Besides, Zim had been exiled there, which meant the Tallest would want to be as far away from here as possible.

Indeed, as they arrived they found that, though Zim _somehow_ managed to take over the planet, Earth still lacked Irken soldiers or slave drivers present in the rest of the conquered planets. Instead, hyoomans were mostly allowed to roam freely and worship Zim. The only thing asked of them was to create delicious snacks so Zim could send them to his leaders, but other than that there were no signs of the Irken Armada _ever_ showing up, so they decided to establish their hideout there. Refugees from all over the galaxy had arrived already, so even if the Irkens did suspect anything

Unfortunately, their streak of bad luck didn't take long in catching up. A month after their arrival, the Irken Armada shows up. They initially thought they had been found until they realized they hadn't started firing at the planet. Instead, only a few ships came down. From what Spleen managed to find out from a hyooman working at Zim's place, only one of the Tallest and his consort came down, and their only purpose was to pick up a smeet. Good, then it meant they still hadn't figured it out.

"Anything yet?"

"Nothing, sir. Are you sure they said they'd call?"

"Of course I do! I might not be very fluent at Sobrekt language, but I know enough to tell they were interested in us!"

"Are you sure?" Shloonktapooxis inquired. "I mean, the _Shuryo_ didn't seem too keen in forming an alliance the last time we called." Apparently, though the Sobrekt leader _did_ have pending matters with the Irken Empire (especially after the Invader the Irkens sent to Sobr was discovered), his people preferred to work alone. Lard Nar had the feeling the _actual_ reason of his refusal was that he didn't take them seriously as a resistance group. He couldn't blame him for thinking like that either; their name didn't exactly sound very convincing.

Shortly after being rejected by the _Shuryo_ , though, they received another anonymous call from a Sobrekt vessel. They only said they'd communicate only through this private channel in a few days. It had been two weeks ever since and still no sign of them. "Okay, I admit, perhaps the _Shuryo_ did have a good point… But come on, I don't think he'd be the type to play a prank, would he?"

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to send him those onyons." It turned out that earthen fruit was terribly harmful to the Sobrekt's eyes.

"Whose idea was that, anyway?!"

"Mine," Spleenk laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

The console beeped. One of the engineers cried out. "We have an incoming transmission from the _Kirokago_!"

Finally! "Hurry, take it before they change their minds!"

The captain of the _Kirokago_ was a female sobrekt with yellowish green scales and lots of scars. Lard Nar noticed a sort of collar around her neck, which he recognized as an Irken shock collar used on conquered aliens to keep them in check. She must have been captive at a certain point. Good, something in common could help identify with her and convince her to join forces.

Okay, Lard Nar, remember what you read on _Sobrekt Language for Dummies_. Don't look at them directly in the eye, don't call them snakes or lizards, etc. "Greetings, ma'am! I'm Lard-Nar, leader of the Resisty!"

The sobrekt frowned and said something. The crocodilian branch of Sobrekt language sounded like guttural sounds and growls reminiscent of an Earthen croc to those. A good thing Ixane was much more fluent than he was and acted as the translator. "She said it's a stupid name."

His eye twitched and he frowned at Spleenk for a few seconds. Then he looked back at the screen. "Yeah, we're…. Working on that."

The sobrekt raised an eyebrow, but she didn't show signs of being annoyed _yet_. She growled. " _Sincerely, I thought you'd be more… imposing, Lard Nar. No wonder not even the Irken Empire takes your little resistance seriously_."

Ouch, that hurt. Before he could say something, Spleenk got ahead of him. "Hey, lizard-lady, why did your leader change his mind?" Lard Nar almost shrieked in dismay when he called her a lizard. The second thing you should _never_ call a Sobrekt. He thought she'd end the transmission right then, but she didn't seem to be offended.

" _I'm afraid the Shuryo is not aware of this. As you might have heard, his stubbornness is legendary. Once he makes up his mind, it's impossible to persuade him otherwise. Sadly, this stubborness is a flaw. He insists on taking down the Irken Empire by himself, and while that is admirable, it would take far too long._ " Her pupils turned to slits. " _And I want them gone_ now."

"Okay, that's… interesting, ma'am. So this means you're interested in joining forces?" Lard Nar asked, hopeful. The Sobrekt were of the few species the Irkens actually _feared_ , so having one on their side would be nice.

The sobrekt chuckled. " _You're sharp, I see. Indeed. Me and my party wish to join forces for a brief while. As you probably know, currently there's only one Tallest aboard the Massive right now_."

"How do you know that?" Shloonktapooxis asked curiously.

" _The red Tallest has been uploading pictures of himself and his mate in_ Vacatio _._ _And judging from the Earth news podcast, only the Purple one came down with his wife? Tell me something, did you see a smeet with them?_ "

"Yeah, it's all over Spacebook," Spleenk showed them the data pad to show a picture of Almighty Tallest Purple and his wife chasing after a wallaby with a smeet in its pouch.

The sobrekt smirked. " _Then now would be a good time to gain a… leverage over the Tallest, don't you think?_ "

"Explain yourself." Lard Nar said.

" _From what I've seen, that Tallest is not as smart as his co-ruler. It wouldn't be that hard to dispatch him and take the smeet as a_ hostage." The female snapped a bone in her claws, licking her chops at the idea of tasting Irken blood. " _What do you think Tallest Red would do to get his precious child back?_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Reference to Lady and the Tramp in the famous spaghetti kiss scene.
> 
> *What can I say? Irken smeets just love pouches.
> 
> *Headcanon: I think Irkens were marsupial at some point in their past. As stated in a previous chap, Irken females had pouches in which they incubated their eggs and kept their smeets inside until they were too big for it. As natural reproduction was replaced by cloning, the pouches were removed because they weren't esthetically nice. Naturally-born smeets, however, still have the need to crawl into mommy's pouch for protection and warmth.


	12. Lowering your Guard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Resisty plans their first strike with their newfound allies. After Tenn receives advice from a very unlikely source, she and Purple finally depart from Earth. As Ilk sends her first report, Tenn momentarily lowers her guard as it brings back painful memories.

_Stupid marsupial_. That was the only thing Tenn thought for the past three hours since their return to Zim's base and going to hide in bed. She had never felt so embarrassed in her entire life. She, Invader Tenn, scared of a puny earthen _mammal._ She was glad the other Invaders hadn't seen that.

The worst part was her reaction to the animal's attack; she had jumped into Tallest Purple's arms with a frightened scream. Tenn cursed herself for that moment of weakness. Now he'd get ideas in his head. She better put an extra pillow wall in between to make the point clear: she _still_ him as far away as possible.

Part of her was wondering why she reacted like that. Usually, she would have retaliated against the animal, but this time something in her organic brain urged her to get to safety, overriding her natural instinct of attacking. This had never happened before.

In fact, this day, in particular, she began to feel strange. Not only because of this embarrassing event. For some reason, she didn't want to be out in the open, and this put her on edge most of the time. As soon as they got back, she came to lock herself in the bedroom and accommodated all the pillows in a pile to hide under it. Additionally, she had some hyoomans bring her that… horrible dish known as 'pizza.' When they came to Earth she couldn't even look at it, but now her body was asking for it. Though it tastes as bad as she imagined, she still ate it.

 _What on Irk is wrong with me_? Tenn wondered as she devoured another slice of the overly greasy, cheesy dish.

She had considered going to see a medical drone but decided not to at the last moment. Part of her was afraid of the answer she might obtain. Part of her had an idea of _what_ was wrong, but she didn't want to think about it. Surely one of the hyooman foods must be the cause! Yes, that must be it!

The door burst open. She initially thought Tallest Purple had arrived and tried to hide further into her 'den'.

"OOH! Hide and seek!" Before she knew what was going on, GIR had invaded her pillow nest.

"What are you doing?! Get out!" Tenn growled.

The defective robot didn't seem to pay attention. Instead, he started to eat from a box of chocolate cereal, getting crumbs all over her den. She was about to kick him out when she saw Zim's hyooman mate with a scowl on her face.

"GIR!" She hissed in a voice that sent shivers down Tenn's spine.

"Shh! We're playing hide and seek!" GIR retorted with his mouth full of food. Tenn rolled her eyes. He had just given himself away.

She thought the Gaz-hyooman would tear him to pieces or something. Once again, however, the female hyooman surprised her. She sighed. "You know what? Keep that box. I can always tell Zim to get more." Gaz looked in her direction. Tenn noticed one of her eyes opening in the slightest, showing a small brown pupil. "What about you? Still scared of the wallaby?"

Tenn instantly emerged from her hiding spot with a scowl on her face. "I was _not_ scared of that thing! It merely caught me by surprise!"

"And you jumped right into your boyfriend's arms."

"He's _not_ my boyfriend!" Tenn snarled. "He might be my husband, but he means nothing to me!"

Gaz raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you marry him?"

She didn't know what was more infuriating. The fact that she was asking him such a personal question as if she were her equal, or that she acted as if it wasn't such a big deal. "That's none of your business, you hairless monkey!"

"He forced you into marriage, didn't he?"

The color drained from Tenn's face. How did she…?! Tenn hid her shock with a deep frown. "I don't know what you're talking about." She muttered.

Gaz-hyooman crossed her arms, chuckling as she leaned against the wall. "It's pretty obvious. You avoid him, you flinch whenever he touches you, whenever you talk to him you sound hostile. He's clearly the dominant of you two given that he's taller, and from what I've learned from Zim, your hierarchy consists mostly on height."

Tenn was speechless. Was it _that_ obvious that she was not in good terms with Tallest Purple?

GIR dipped his spoon in. "You could offer him flowers! Everyone loves flowers!" That said, he brought out a bucket of flowers with stripped bacon instead of petals. Tenn felt nauseous at the sight.

"How about you go get flowers for him, GIR?"

"The Flowers! I forgot!" GIR dashed off the bed, destroying the pillow nest in the process, and rushed out of the room.

"Okay, now that we can talk in peace," Gaz-hyooman scowled. "What is wrong with you?"

"Huh?" Tenn asked, genuinely confused.

"You don't understand, do you? I'll spell it out for you. You are married to one of the leaders of a large intergalactic empire and what do you do? You _enjoy_ it and use your newfound power to make all the pathetic worms bow down to you, not hide in a bunch of pillows like a crybaby."

Who the hell did this hyooman think she was?! Her words triggered Tenn's already volatile temper. "Shut your trap, hyooman." The irkenette hissed, spreading out her _PAK_ -legs as she made her way to face Gaz-hyooman, making herself look taller as a form of intimidation.

Once more, and to her utter chagrin, the hyooman wasn't intimidated in the least. She seemed… amused. "You know how many times Zim has already tried this little tactic of yours on me in the past?" To Tenn's shock, Gaz-hyooman _somehow_ grabbed her by the lekku and lowered her down. The pain forced her to retreat her _PAK_ legs. "Thanks to that, I've learned that little twist to your antennae is enough to subdue you."

"OWOWOW! OKay, okay, I surrender!"

Satisfied, the Gaz-hyooman let her go. Tenn rubbed her lekku's stem, wincing as it pulsated with pain. "So I am right? He forced you to be with him?"

Tenn sighed in resignation and nodded her head.

Gaz-hyooman turned out to be a decent companion despite her scary, dominant personality. For the first time in a while, Tenn found herself opening up to someone. It was embarrassing at first, but at the same time, she felt as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders. She told her about Dren's death and how Tallest Purple started courting her, eventually forcing her into marriage.

"Irkens certainly have strange ways to show affection," Gaz commented after she was done. "That would explain why Zim was so jealous of other guys who stared at me for longer than five seconds."

"At least he didn't force you to marry him, did he?"

Gaz scoffed. "We are not married exactly. We only live together."

"Then you don't love him?"

"I never said that." Gaz took a bite of pizza. "Just because we love each other doesn't mean we have to be all twitterpated the entire time. That's dumb. Besides, you Irkens don't kiss in the mouth, do you?"

Tenn shivered. "Ew, no! That's disgusting! The thing is I _don't_ love him! It just doesn't seem to get through that empty head of his!" She crushed an earthen fruit for emphasis, splattering its juices all over the table.

"I'm not saying that you should fall in love with him. You should just learn how to handle him."

"What do you mean?"

"If this guy is as scary as you say he is, then toy with him. Make him think he's getting to you, and then you crush his hopes like _this_." Gaz-hyooman snapped a primitive writing tool in two. "Tease him"

"How is that going to help me?"

Gaz-hyooman shrugged. "Men like what they can't have. If he tortures you, then you are in your right to retaliate your own way, in this case by confusing him." She smirked. "Believe me, it'll drive him _nuts_."

Tenn gave it a thought for the next half an hour. Tease Purple? Did the Gaz-hyooman really want to help her, or was she trying to trick her into digging a deeper grave? She didn't know Tallest Purple as she did. There was no guarantee that this 'method' would work in her favor.

Speaking of Tallest Purple, he finally showed up not long after. One hand was holding Rouge, and the other was pressing an ice pack against his left eye. "I'm officially making Zim exterminate those damn mammals." He muttered.

"Is your eye okay?" Tenn asked. Her PAK-programming still made her have concern for her Almighty Tallest, even if the jerk didn't actually deserve it. Sometimes she wished she could get rid of this feature.

"What do you think? That creature struck my beautiful face and I got a black eye!" Tallest Purple snapped. He quickly winced and pressed the ice a bit more. "Ow…"

"Big deal. Your PAK will have it healed by tomorrow." Tenn retorted with a roll of her eyes.

"I swear, I can't wait to leave this puny planet…" He trailed off as he noticed all the pillows gathered in the center of the bed. "What have you been doing?"

Tenn almost, _almost_ , gulped. She couldn't tell him she had made a pillow fort or he'd suspect something was off. She scrambled to find a believable explanation for this. "I… I've been testing the pillow's stuffing! Turns out they've got lots of feathers! See?" She ripped open the nearest one and let its contents spill to the carpet. "Who would have said Earth had so many birds for this purpose?"

For one moment it looked like he didn't believe her. To her good luck, one of the feathers floated up to Rouge's face. The smeet stared at it curiously before trying to catch it. "Squeak!" This distracted Tallest Purple from her rather pathetic attempt at lying.

"Oh, no, Rouge. We don't know from which part of the bird's body that piece of plumage came from." He said as he blew the feather away and tucked Rouge into his basket.

Tenn took advantage of the current distraction to go into the bed and hide underneath the covers. Her organic brain sent alarms of discomfort to her system, urging her to make another nest, but she contained the urge to do so, especially when Tallest Purple joined her in bed.

"Whatever you do, don't turn to look at me. Not in this state." He whispered into her lekku.

Tenn rolled her eyes. She heard him shifting a bit away and a muffled groan. He had probably covered his head with a pillow to hide his injury. Good for her.

* * *

Ixane hovered into the room. "It's confirmed, sir! They're leaving tomorrow morning!"

"Where do you get that information, now that we're on it _?_ "

"Oh, you see, there's a hyooman with a big head that doesn't like Zim and he's been passing us information about the Irken Empire whenever he can." Lard Nar explained. "It's one of the few ideas Spleenk has had that was actually good."

Kamran twitched his tail, irritated. He took a look at the 'conference room', a small closet with a tea table and a hanging light bulb. No wonder the _Shuryo_ had never considered these guys worthy of an alliance. They had a good idea but lacked the discipline to pose an actual threat to _anything_ , let alone the Irken Empire. What was the mistress thinking? The only reason he had accepted to come in her stead was the chance to visit the planet _Hitorken_ Zim was said to have conquered; if he was lucky, he might have time to bring back a souvenir or two.

"Okay, so what's the plan?"

"Huh?"

Kamran sighed. "The plan to kidnap the smeet named Rouge."

"Oh, that!" Lard Nar chuckled nervously, toying a bit with his claws. "We kind of hoped you already had one." He flinched when he heard the kryvtor's claw tapping against the ground, a sign that he was getting irritated. Okay, Lard Nar, you better think of something before he loses interest! "But I do have a plan in case you didn't!"

"I'm listening."

Shoot, these lizards were smart. Think, Lard Nar, think! Use this big, Vortian brain of yours… Wait a minute. "As you know, my people designed the Irken flagship, so I know quite some perks that the Irkens themselves are not aware of."

"Perks?" Kamran repeated.

"The _Massive_ is a technically a moving fortress, and all its corridors are like a labyrinth. It takes a long time to move around in there, and sometimes you might get lost if you don't have a map. During its construction, my people used passageways to get from one place to another. If we're lucky, the Irkens haven't sealed the entrance."

Kamran raised his crest, interested. "And where is this… entrance?"

"If memory doesn't fail me, it should be at the top. From there, the corridors lead to everywhere within the _Massive_ except the Tallest's quarters."

"Yeah, all we have to do is get to the top of the _Massive_ without drawing the attention of the Armada and then sneak in!" Shloonktapooxis finished eagerly.

"Leave that to us," Kamran said. "We've got our… methods."

"Oh, is it one of those genetically engineered things you guys are famous for?"

"That information is classified."

Spleenk squealed. "Cool! Think we could fly it?"

"I…"

"Hey, is it true you guys have a blind, obsessive admiration for Zim?" Lard Nar asked, changing the topic. He had heard this rumor from some contacts that took refuge in Sobr when Vort was conquered. Apparently, Sobrekt sometimes developed respect for certain enemies if they defeated them in combat _or_ did something that impressed them. In Zim's case, the destruction he brought unto his own people had met the latter criteria, so they held him in very high regard despite being an Irken himself.

"How many people have caused such problems for the Irken Empire than _Hitorken_ Zim?" Kamran responded with another question. "I heard he even took down the Irken Control Brains on Judgementia."

"He did?" Lard Nar was surprised. Man, his _PAK_ must _really_ have lots of errors if it was capable of that feat. "Okay, then, so you will handle the transport. We can provide you guys with toxic water that will burn Irkens on contact. Zim cleaned up most of it on this planet, but we managed to take a sample of it before that happened to study its effects on Irken physiology…" Lard Nar noted the kryvtor wasn't paying attention. He was sniffing the air and rubbing his eyes every now and then. "You okay?"

"What's that awful smell?" Kamran blinked a few times. His eyes were stinging. He was pretty sure it had to do with this new smell.

They heard the unmistakable sound munching and chewing. All eyes turned to Spleenk, who was enjoying a fresh white onyon. He noticed all the attention was on him. With a nervous chuckle, he held it out. "Want some?"

Kamran tapped his talon claws again.

* * *

Ah, it felt _so_ good to be back on the _Massive_ again! No more Zim following him around, crying 'my tallest' on a constant basis. No more scary hyoomans, crazy SIR units and overall no more inferior mammals ruining his beautiful face! The visit wasn't a complete waste of time, however. At least he got a good ration of Earthen snacks, including the mirror cake and vanilla ice cream. Zim claimed he and Red could come to visit him whenever they wanted.

 _Not in a million years_. Purple thought with a deep scowl. Zim might have done the unthinkable, and he might be taller, but he was _still_ as annoying, egomaniac and crazy as ever.

The first thing he did once they returned to the _Massive_ was to take a _long_ bath to remove all earthen germs. Rouge was put into a sterilizing chamber before said bath, the last thing he wanted was that his nephew catch a hyoomans disease. Sadly, he didn't get Tenn to join in the fun. She insisted to wait outside.

As he returned to the bridge, he was informed he had a few messages and transmissions. Most were progress reports from the Invaders on duty, but he showed little to no interest in them unless it involved snacks or blowing people up. The only transmissions he found interesting were from Larb and Red. His co-Tallest informed he and Lena would be back in a few more days, and that hopefully, she had completely forgotten she was mad at him.

Not long after watching the last message, the control board beeped again. "Incoming transmission from Sobr."

"You don't even need to inform me whenever Invader Ilk calls, just patch it through!" Purple said, unable to contain his eagerness. To his confusion, it wasn't Ilk, but DIR who appeared on the monitor. "Hey, where's Ilk?" His lekku twitched as he heard something from off-screen. Was it his imagination, or was somebody puking? "Is she alright?"

" _My mistress is alright, but currently she's… indisposed,_ " DIR explained. " _During today's reconnaissance, she got curious about Sobrekt cuisine and tasted it. After some analysis, I learned that said dish was a creature's testicles previously wrapped in-_ "

"Don't go into details!" Purple snapped, already feeling his squeedly-spooch revolting. What on Irk is wrong with the Sobrekt?! He wasn't the only one who thought like that: a few technicians looked like they wanted to throw up. One of them did in a nearby garbage chute. "Make sure Ilk recovers from that awful experience as soon as possible."

" _I have provided mistress with emetic serum so that she may expel that meat out of her squeedly-spooch. Once she's done with the expulsion, I shall apply a serum to lessen the after-effects._ " Wow. Red had _really_ put his brain and heart into this robot.

"So what's the purpose of your call, DIR?"

" _My mistress decided to document our research in Sobrekt culture through video, and I've been recording the events occurring outside the Base of Operations. Mistress figured it would be easier to show you instead of explaining it since she is aware that you and Tallest Red are not fond of long verbal explanations._ "

Purple chuckled. Ah, his niece knew him well. "Technically you made a documentary, didn't you?"

" _Affirmative, my Tallest_."

"Send it. I'll take a look at it."

DIR saluted and cut off the transmission. Seconds later, they received a video feed. Purple felt partly disappointed that he didn't get to see Ilk, but at least she had made considerable progress in her mission. "Someone bring me popcorn and cola!" He sent a _PAK_ -mail to Tenn, telling her to come to the bridge.

' _What for?_ ' Was the reply.

' _Movie night!_ ' He retorted. ' _Hurry up or I'm eating all the popcorn_!'

A few minutes later she arrived. She smelled of sugar and exotic flowers, which meant she had taken a bath too. He noticed little lekku sticking out of her pouch. Hopefully, Rouge would stay in there for the duration of the video. He beckoned Tenn to come to sit next to him.

"What's this movie about?" She asked dryly. She sounded groggy. Had he woken her up? Why was she asleep at this hour?

"Ilk sent a video feed of her exploration in Sobr. Maybe the first recorded insight we've got on Sobrekt culture. Who knows? Maybe we'll get to see an hybrekt or two!"

Tenn shifted uncomfortably. "Must we watch it? No offense, but I don't feel like-"

" _Sit down_." He ordered.

Her lekku lowered in submission and she did as told with a deep frown and her arms crossed. She looked so cute when she pouted! He waved his hand, signaling the technicians to start the video.

It started with an introduction from Ilk. " _Greetings, My Tallest._ (Why did she refer to them formally? Perhaps she was just following protocol.) _This is the first video log of my exploration of Sobr, the Sobrekt homeworld, and its culture, recorded through DIR. I know you don't like long verbal explanations because you find them 'boring', so instead, I decided to record it_."

Purple chuckled. She knew them _very_ well. Red would be _so_ happy.

The actual video started not long after Ilk activated the holographic disguises. DIR got ahead of her to make sure no one was around. The sky was a mixture of greens. The architecture reminded Purple of the homes in the 'Japan' region of Earth, that little island that nearly depleted all the ocean's life to make that dish known as sushi. Once DIR made sure there was no one around, she signaled Ilk to come out. They had the perfect disguise, why were they so wary?

Most of the 'movie/documentary' involved hybrekts. Apparently, they had an important role even in everyday life. A few segments showed 'friendly' sparring amongst sobrekt and kryvtor alike, showing their different preferences for fighting, but what both had in common was that they liked to draw blood with their bare teeth and claws better than using their plasma weapons. Usually, he would have told them to skip to the more interesting parts, but this time he watched the full thing. It was from Ilk, after all, plus it's about the Sobrekt homeworld.

His newfound patience soon paid off. Soon after Ilk and DIR arrived at a coliseum in the middle of the city. It was filled to the brim with Sobrekt and kryvtor alike, all of them cheering at the arena. Ilk explained the lizards had a fitting fondness of bloodsports. Typically, they consisted of soldiers pit against one another to hone their skills, or war prisoners being forced to fight against the larger hybrids. It kind of reminded him of the digestor fights back on Irk.

Today, most of the fighting involved war prisoners facing off against a white-scaled dinosaur-like animal with sharp teeth; Ilk called it an Indoshiro, the apex predator of Sobr and of the few who was not a hybrid. The pit fighters consisted of Vortians, Planet Jackers, amongst other species Purple recognized. It didn't take the monster long to gobble up the pit fighters. "Woo! Where can we get one of those? We could make it fight against the digestor! What do you think, Tenn?"

"Well, it _was_ amusing to see the Vortians getting mauled," Tenn admitted.

"Did Rouge see it?"

"He hasn't poked out. I think he's asleep."

Purple took a small peek into the pouch. Rouge was curled up into a tiny ball, suckling on his thumb. He looked so cute! "Yup, he's asleep." He quickly motioned for the technicians to lower the volume a bit.

The indoshiro was led back into its pen with a giant steak. Then a 'special event' was announced. Ilk grimly said that every now and then, they'd unleash numerous hybrekts unto a single fighter to relish at the killing. The species of the fighter varied. Sometimes it was a sobrekt criminal looking for redemption, other times it was war prisoners promised their freedom if they survived. Purple couldn't really judge them; he and Red had done similarly to defectives and Vortian slaves. As the doors of the arena opened, however, he dropped the soda he was drinking.

The fighter was an Irken, an Irken Elite soldier. His uniform was torn, dirty and had holes in it; he probably hadn't had a good bath in a long while. One of his lekku was twisted, as the Sobrekt knew those were a sensitive part of an Irken's body and relished torturing through it. One of his legs was limp. Despite the injuries, the Elite soldier still held his head up high with dignity. Purple would give him that.

The gates on the other side of the arena were slid open, releasing three black, quadruped animals with colored stripes running down their bodies. The creatures licked their chops upon spotting their 'prey'. Purple recognized them from Dren's reports and the pictures taken by soldiers in the battlefield.

Indokuros.

* * *

She froze the moment she saw the monsters step out of their confinement. She wanted to move her gaze away, but her body didn't respond. She kept staring at the indokuros as they circled the Elite soldier. They didn't immediately attack. They were staring at their 'prey', waiting for something to happen. The elite soldier, too, was waiting for the right moment to strike.

It happened too fast. The first indokuro attacked, leaping at the Irken with outstretched claws. The Elite's _PAK_ -legs emerged at the last moment and he jumped out of the way. The indokuro crashed against the second one, causing both animals to quarrel.

The third one, however, took advantage of the distraction to grab at one of the PAK-legs and tear it off with one bite. The Irken lost his balance momentarily, and the loss of one of his _PAK_ -legs hindered his movements. He retracted the broken _PAK_ -leg and took out the plasma gun. He shot at the quarreling indokuros, but this proved to be a mistake as it shifted their attention back to him.

For a brief moment, Tenn didn't see just an Irken Elite soldier.

For a brief moment, she saw Dren about to meet his fate.

The next thing she knew, she was running out of the bridge, ignoring Tallest Purple's calls as she tried to get as far away as possible. She went up to the nearest elevator and into the upper levels of the _Massive,_ inadvertently ending up in the terrace.

The Massive's terrace was not a 'terrace; itself, it was merely a large empty space with a few seats scattered here and there. Despite this, it was one of the most popular spots in the Irken flagship. Why? There was a panoramic view of the black, starry skies that made up the entirety of the universe, visible through a thick but transparent glass. It was particularly astounding when they were passing by a nebula or a galaxy.

Tenn did not contemplate the view, however. She collapsed to her knees, embraced herself and began to weep. Her lekku flattened against her head as some sobs escaped her. Not long after, the tears started trickling down her cheeks.

Oh, Dren… She had heard of the indokuros' brutality, but to actually witness it was a very different thing. Those things didn't just hunt to survive, they hunted out of pleasure. To think that Dren had fallen victim to those monsters made her want to scream. They didn't kill him, but she could imagine them toying with him like a cat toying with a mouse.

_Don't cry, Tenn. You're an Irken soldier. Irkens don't show weakness._

She repeated these words in her head, trying to cease her wailing, but her organic body didn't respond, and instead continued to shed tears of grief over the loss. No matter how much time passed, it still hurt her to the core of her squeedly-spooch.

Something shifted in her pouch and she heard an inquisitive squeak. She had forgotten Rouge was there. He was looking up at her curiously. He could tell she was sad. The smeet tried to wrap his tiny arms around her abdomen, purring and trying to make her feel better. Tenn gave him a small pat on the head as a manner of thanks.

Her lekku moved in direction of the doors. Someone had followed her up there? She wondered why for a moment until she realized she wasn't hearing footsteps. There was only one person who could do that. Her hunch was confirmed as the newcomer spoke. "Tenn?"

Tenn stiffened. Her grip on her forearms intensified. "Leave me alone." She said quietly, sounding less hostile than she would have liked. The humming of his hover belt became louder, which meant he was coming closer. She lowered her gaze, trying to hide her eyes as much as possible. She had vowed to herself that he wouldn't see her cry.

By the time he was right next to her, she was completely frozen. Tenn bit her lip, trying to contain any more sobs that might let him know she was weeping. For a long time, he didn't say anything. Part of her expected him to say something inconsiderate, that she should get over it and move on, or that Dren would have wanted her to forget about him, or something.

When he finally did something, it wasn't what she was expecting. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She was tempted to look up but managed to hold back at the last moment. _He will not see me cry_ , she thought to herself again. The spiteful commentary never came; instead, he knelt down to be at her level and pulled her close into an embrace.

For a brief moment, she was shocked. An Almighty Tallest _never_ knelt down to a shorter Irken. To do so was seen as a sign of equality, and nobody could be equal to the Tallest. Even more astounding was the fact that he was trying to comfort her when all the previous times he disregarded her feelings. What was he up to? Was this a trick so she'd let her guard down?

"I'm sorry that you had to see that, my dear." Tallest Purple said after a while. "I forgot that part of Invader Dren's demise was because of those monsters. It wasn't my intention to stir up bad memories at all."

Tenn didn't know why, but she believed him _this_ time. There was something about his hold that made her feel safe. She wasn't sure why. She wouldn't compare it to Dren's embrace, but Purple's felt just as warm as his.

She wanted to pull away from him and tell him to mind his own business. She wanted to lash out and hurt him just as much as he had hurt her. She wanted to scream at him, tear his lekku off his head, _anything_ to let him know how much she despised him. At least, this is what she was telling herself.

What she did instead, however, would eventually lead her to wonder why she had acted like that. If her _PAK_ 's filters failed to the point that they let this basic instinct happen, or if she had been for comfort for so long that she allowed her feelings to get the better of her. But for now, she only let herself get carried away by the flow of negative emotions.

She returned the embrace and sobbed bitterly into Tallest Purple's chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My, my, these two are making some progress. BUT it will be a while before Tenn can actually become truly comfortable with her 'husband'. Wonder if she'll take Gaz's advice.


	13. Battle on the Massive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sobrekt make their move against the Irken Flagship. Purple shows his unique abilities in combat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, it's been a while since I updated and I apologize. After finishing my career, my sister bought a small shop and I work on it most of the time to start gaining working experience. It's nice but time-consuming, so maybe I won't have as much time to write as before.
> 
> Well, without further ado for now, enjoy!

Honesty is not one of Purple's fortes. Many were aware of this little defect of his, that he tended to twist facts to his convenience, and while he was terrible at keeping up whatever fabricated information he came up with (Red always had to quickly step in when said fabrication was co-created between the two), he was more prone to lying than his co-Tallest.

Over the years, he got better at his lying skills even though he still had his bad moments. He learned to dissimulate certain emotions, only letting the  _tiniest_ bit over the surface when he  _wanted_ to, confusing enemies and subordinates alike this way. It was amusing to see how they tried to read him, wishing to anticipate his reaction so they could prepare for it.

His Tenn was a different story altogether. She could almost read him like an open book. She knew when he was lying. She knew when he was warning her to remember her place. She could even tell when he was not in a good mood and kept her distance. It might be inconvenient sometimes, but this is another of the things from her that he found attractive.

 _Honestly,_ he hated to see her sad. He wanted her to have any kind of expression except a weeping one. The Tenn he knew doesn't break that easily, doesn't show any kind of weakness. His Tenn was a warrior, an elite soldier, and a top Invader.

So when he found her in the upper deck, crying her eyes out, he didn't know what to do. Or rather, he wasn't certain of what to do. He knew why she was crying, and it annoyed him that even without any more mementos of Dren she insisted on remembering him.

But something inside him moved when he saw her crying this way. This wasn't like that time back on Irk, this was even worse.

Besides, a part of him knew this was partly his fault. He technically forced her to see that video and the creatures that had been the downfall of her former boyfriend. He tried to justify himself that he couldn't have known the video would contain indokuros, but he knew this was a lie. It's  _Sobr._  Of course those animals could appear at any moment.

He said nothing as he floated over to her. She didn't look like she'd get to her feet so he knelt down (something inconceivable for a Tallest) so he could hold her close, offering a bit of comfort and hoping she wouldn't elbow his ribs again. He didn't want her to hurt her arm if she did; his armor was made to withstand said physical altercations.

What happened next took him completely off guard: Tenn  _returned_  the embrace. His lekku went straight and stiff just as his  _PAK_  released sparks. His heart-organ was pumping like For the first time ever his wife hugged him  _back_  without him having to order her to do so. He  _almost_  squealed happily, but he managed to contain it at the last moment. Now was not the time.

He held her for a good half-an-hour before she crying stopped. Looking down, he realized his wife had fallen asleep. Purple rolled his eyes but also gave the tiniest of smiles. He straightened himself up and carefully shifted Tenn in his arms so that he was holding her bridal style. Rouge poked his head out of the pouch for a few brief seconds to see what was going on, only to go hide back in when he realized it was just Purple.

He carried Tenn all the way over to their chambers. She almost woke up a few times, but eventually, he finally managed to get to his room. With a  _PAK_ -leg he lifted part of the duvet so he could properly tuck her into bed. He didn't know how, but somehow he managed to take Rouge out of the pouch and the smeet's tiny growls and protests didn't awaken her. She must be a really heavy sleeper.

' _Sweet dreams, my beautiful Tenn_ ', he thought as he stroked his mate's cheek tenderly. She stirred a bit and tried to hide further into the covers. Purple sighed.

He quietly left the room, instructing the computer to block all sort of noises so that Tenn may sleep peacefully. He went into Red and Lena's room and tucked Rouge into his crib. The little one had an angry, but rather cute, pout on his little face.

"Don't look at me like that, your aunt Tenn needs to sleep too, you know," Okay, maybe  _need_  it was a bit of an exaggeration. Irkens don't strictly need to sleep, it's more of a way to pass the time. The only instances under which most Irkens did was when they were injured or incapacitated to help their  _PAK_ s heal their bodies faster.

Rouge blew a raspberry with his tiny tongue. Purple sighed. "Yeah, yeah, as you say. You could pretend your blanket is a pouch, you know."

His PAK received an Irk-mail.  _My Tallest, we're being hailed by a foreign vessel of Sobrekt origin._

Sobrekt origin? Why would the lizards call? Had they discovered Ilk? No, that couldn't be, if they had they would already know. He sent the reply as he walked out of the room.  _Keep them on hold while I get there_.

Purple hurried out of the room, but he didn't go straight to the bridge. First, he went to the cafeteria to get some nachos and his serving of ice cream. There wasn't any hurry to see the lizards, after all. Besides, he could make them wait as much as he wanted.

After twenty minutes of picking between vanilla or cookies n' cream ice cream, he finally arrived at the bridge and made his way over to his seat. There was a medium/sized sobrekt cruiser parked right in front of the  _Massive_. That's odd, what could such a small ship want? Why was it drifting alone in space?

One of the consoles was beeping incessantly as the call was still on hold. It was starting to get annoying. "Pick it up already!" He snapped at the nearest pilot.

Nodding quickly, the Irken pressed the button to take the call, but to Purple's confusion, it wasn't a sobrekt on the other side of the screen.

" _Greetings, your Tallest! I see you still remember us!_ " The Vortian with the green goggles from before was in the captain's seat, surrounded by other aliens. " _We are the Resi-_!"

He didn't get to finish, as Purple had ordered the same Irken from before to cut off the transmission. He had no time to waste on those idiots again. He was about to order to blow them up when they called again. Purple murmured under his breath.

"Um, sir, wouldn't it be wise to at least find out how they got a Sobrekt vessel? The lizards may have finally joined up forces with them."

"Are you kidding? The sobrekt might be brutes, but they aren't dumb,"  _unfortunately_. "They are picky when it comes to who they ally with..."

Wait a minute. If that is the case and the 'Resisty' is not an official ally of Sobr, then the  _Shuryo_  might be interested to learn that they somehow stole Sobrekt property. Oooh, that would certainly destroy any chances of the Resisty obtaining any aid from Sobr. As he thought of this, Purple smiled slyly. "Pick up the call."

The Vortian appeared on the screen again. He looked upset. " _Hey, don't you hang up on me when I'm gloating!_ "

"Look, usually I wouldn't waste time on little worms like you, but frankly, it surprised me that you are in possession of a Sobrekt vessel." Purple retorted indifferently. "I mean, as far as I know, Sobr has  _rejected_  you a hundred times."

A thin, multi-arm green alien which he recognized as a Splatian said. " _Actually, it's been three hundred times_."

" _Spleenk, be quiet!_ " The Vortian almost shrieked in utter dismay. It took Purple a great deal of self-control not to burst into laughter. " _Well, the_ Shuryo  _was bound to change his mind eventually!_ "

"Or you simply stole it." Purple taunted.

" _We didn't!_ "

"Well, if you're done making fools of yourselves, get out of the way before I blow you up  _again_."

" _W-Wait a minute! We have come to negotiate!_ "

Purple raised a lekku. " _You_? Negotiate?" He burst out into hysterical laughter. He was joined in by the pilots, guards, and engineers in the bridge. "Don't make me laugh! No, wait, you already did! HAHA! What could you possibly have to  _negotiate_ with the Irken Empire?"

The vortian looked nervous. " _Many things!"_

" _Lots!"_

" _Yeah, we got cool stuff!_ " a cone-like alíen said happily.

"Like what?"

" _Errr… well, we have…._ " The vortian left the captain's seat for a few seconds and returned with a strange-looking plant. " _A cactus!_ "

Purple snorted. "That's your trump card? A stupid plant?"

" _How about bananas!_ " The cone alien duped his spoon in.

Purple pinched the skin between his eyes.

* * *

"Remember the plan?"

"Yes, sir!"

"This mission won't be easy. Some of you might not make it alive out of this, we're about to enter the most heavily guarded ship in the Irken Armada. If any of you wish to step down, now's the moment."

There was a brief moment of tense silence; soon followed by numerous tails stamping the ground simultaneously. Kamran looked over at his men, Sobrekt and kryvtor alike. Deep down he had known none of them would step down. Their people would rather die on the battlefield at their enemies' hands than live a long life. Besides, many had pending matters with the Irken Empire.

Lard Nar was right. The Irkens hadn't yet sealed the secret entrance at the top. It was to get in through there via boarding kurokran. These subspecies of the black kurokran were created more for infiltration than open combat: their scales were darker and could invisible at any time without needing to heat themselves. One was big enough to hold his battalion in its stomach. Kamran opened the door first and allowed the kurokran to slip its head inside to expel his soldiers. Its neck was thick enough to completely annulate the vacuum effect. Once everyone was in, Kamran sent the kurokran off and slid in quickly before the gate closed.

This secret tunnel consisted mostly of metal walls covered in thick cables, all going to different parts of the irken flagship. One of the kryvtors drilled a tiny hole into one of the cables and connected a mapping device through a cable. Soon after, the  _Massive's_  interior and corridors were drawn on the screen.

"We're not far from the upper levels, Kamran." The kryvtor announced.

"Where are the Tallest's quarters?"

She tapped a few buttons. "Two stories down, the only entrance is through an elevator that uses biosignature scans."

"Who says we're using the front door?" One of the Sobrekt snickered. He was joined by his comrades.

"We can get there through these corridors, right?" The kryvtor nodded. Kamran snorted. "You know what to do, Keela. Go to their central computer and disable their security systems."

The kryvtor named Keela nodded.

"Keno, you and your squad create a diversion in the detention brig. Release as many captives as you can, that will keep the Irkens busy for some time. Akashi, your group will go to the bridge and keep the Tallest busy and away from the quarters. As soon as hell breaks loose, he'll want to go make sure his mate and the smeet are safe." Both squad leaders saluted.

Satisfied, Kamran turned to the other two members of his own squad: the first was a kryvtor whose specialty was Irken elite soldiers. He had been used by the Irkens in a combat-training arena, where he was nearly killed many times only to be brought back by the Irken machine once and again to prolong his suffering. However, this also gave him an insight as to how Irken Elite soldiers fought.

The second sent shivers down his spine. He usually had no problem in working with pure Sobrekt, but this one was different from the average soldier. He had been trained from birth to kill. His entire life spun around the fresh scent of blood and the melodic screams of victims as they were torn apart… while they were still  _alive_. Kamran remembered at the last moment that he should never look at them in the eye, and averted his gaze just in time.

"Sakato, Kiago, follow me. The Vortian must be running out of ideas to keep them busy."

* * *

" _How about some free meal tickets for Foodcourtia? You like snacks, don't you? Or… Or… Do you like bubblegum? It's a Krantian invention, you know-_ "

The bridge echoed with Purple's loud screaming. "SHUT UP!" It was so loud he had to catch his breath. Damn it, not even Zim's three-hour call a few years ago had driven him  _this_  nuts. Purple took a few deep breaths to calm down. "Give me one good reason to spare your pathetic lives after making me waste so much snacking time."

The cone alien showed up with a plate atop his head. " _We got sandwiches!_ "

His eye twitched. "DESTROY THEM!"

Purple fell back unto his seat, fuming as the Resisty started screaming in fright. With one hand he motioned one of the pilots to cut off the transmission. With the other, he motioned one of the service drones to bring him a drink. Afterward, the only sound in the bridge was the pilots activating the bridge cannon and his own slurping. Good. They knew when he wanted to be left alone.

The Resisty's ship turned around and started flying away. One of the engineers asked if they should pursue it. Purple shook his head. "Nah, they aren't worth the fuel. Fire the cannon, but don't destroy them, just damage their ship severely." He watched as the  _Massive_ 's plasma particle beam fired at one of the vessel's sides; it didn't blow it up, but the force of the explosion seemed to damage the right engines, causing a good deal of smoke to sizzle out of the ruined machinery.

Usually, he would have laughed at such a sight, but he couldn't help but feel something was off. Those guys just came to tell him useless ramble. It didn't really surprise him, they looked dumb enough to do just that, but this time it felt different. They looked almost…  _desperate_ to keep his attention. He only played along at first because it amused him to see them make fools of themselves, but it became irritating after twenty minutes…

Speaking of which, how did they get their hands on a Sobrekt ship? They clearly weren't skilled enough to steal it, especially not from the lizards. Frankly, the only way the 'Resisty' could have gotten it was if it was gifted-

**BOOM!**

It happened so fast he didn't realize what was going on until he found himself on the ground, his robes stained in nacho cheese and soft drink. Purple rubbed his sore head. He heard alarm sirens and hurried footsteps all over the bridge. There were numerous shadows all over him, all of them asking him if he was okay. He ushered them to go away as he leaned unto the nearest service drone to get back on his feet.

"I'm fine!" He snarled at the guards. No one,  _no one_ , could touch an Almighty Tallest. "What on Irk happened?!"

"We're under attack, My Tallest!"

"Attack?!" He repeated incredulously. "That's impossible! It's the  _Massive_ , for goodness's sake! Who'd be so pea-brained as to attack us?!" Another sudden temblor told him otherwise. "Damn it, where is it coming from?!"

"It's from the detention area, my Tallest! We're being informed there's a massive breakout! Somebody has deactivated the cells' force fields and the prisoners are escaping!"

"My Tallest, one of the jailers on shift sent pictures! It seems the attack was spearheaded by Sobrekt!"

Purple swore he  _felt_ the color draining out of his face.  _Sobrekt_  on the  _Massive_? It's impossible, they would have noticed if the lizards… no, wait. The Resisty!  _That's_ why they were so desperate to keep his attention. They were just buying time for them to get into the  _Massive_ undetected. It looks like the Sobrekt finally changed their minds about them and decided to aid them.

If the Sobrekt were behind this, there was an ulterior motive behind their attack. Surely they didn't come here just to save a bunch of stranger aliens. They weren't the smartest species, but they were smart enough to make complex strategies. The detention brig attack was probably just a distraction to divert them from the real target.

Tenn. They must be after her.

"Don't just stand there! Send all the available guards to contain the prisoners!"

An engineer gulped. "S-Sir, it appears that most of the guards were either killed or left incapacitated."

"Then send all the  _available_ guards, Invaders and whoever can wield a weapon, but send them NOW!" He started making his way towards the door.

"My Tallest, where are you going?!"

"To the cafeteria to get some nachos!" Purple said sarcastically. "Where does it look like? I'm going to deal with the lizards personally!"

"With all due respect, sir, it wouldn't be wise for you to expose yourself-!"

Purple towered over the guard. "Are you questioning my combat ability?" he asked, his voice calm with an undercurrent of anger. "You meant to say I'm helpless?"

The soldier cowered. His lekku were flat against his head, showing complete submission. "Of course not, my Tallest! I'd never imply such a thing!" He stuttered nervously.

"Then get out of my way, worm." He didn't even wait for the soldier to move. He roughly pushed him aside. But first, he had to make sure Tenn and Rouge would be safe. He looked back at the nearest pilot. "Put my chambers on lockdown! Nobody goes in or out until this is over! Also, I want Elite soldiers placed at the elevator! Whoever is not an Irken gets shot, is that clear?! "

"Yes, my Tallest!"

Before he could open the door, he heard a commotion on the outside. Loud shrieks, roars and screaming. Seconds later he heard a sound similar to the ripping of… Purple couldn't help but gulp. He cursed himself for this show of weakness. "They're here."

"My Tallest, let us handle this!"

A protective line of elite soldiers and guards, whose only purpose was to make sure  _he_  survived, formed between him and the door. Purple wanted to protest, but the sound of blood being splattered outside made him sick to his squeedly-spooch.

The doors were blown open by a huge explosion. The line of Elite soldiers took most of the blast, giving Purple time to activate his  _PAK_ -shields to protect himself. The tremor caused by the explosion sent all the engineers inside the bridge to fall to the ground in panic. Purple stepped back warily as he saw shadows moving through the smoke. The elite soldiers who weren't left unconscious by the blast formed the protective line in front of him once again.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A kryvtor was the first to step out of the smoke curtain, licking his chops. "What an honor, your Tallest! We'll make sure to hang your head in a wall worthy of you!"

Purple felt a shiver down his spine. He'd never understand why the lizards were so obsessed with heads. "Hey, now that you mention it, I've been thinking of getting a lizard-skin wallet. Thanks for offering yourself!" His PAK-legs emerged in full battle mode, covered in sharp blades that could slice even through Sobrekt hide. "Bring it on, lizard!"

The Kryvtor attacked. Purple swiftly moved through the bridge, alternating between  _PAK_ -legs and shields to block attacks or strike. All the soldiers and pilots inside the bridge came to his aid with plasma rifles and guns aiming at the Sobrekt attackers, who got nothing more than a few burns. Purple faced off against the leader while the rest of the squad was attacked by the  _Massive_ 's crew. Purple felt proud of his soldiers; they wouldn't give up the Irken flagship without a fight.

"Well, I must say I'm surprised! You  _do_  know how to fight!"

He barely had time to block a plasma knife of some sort. "Don't underestimate the Almighty Tallest, lizard." Purple spat.

"Can you blame me? I mean, those sticky arms of yours don't look like they could hold a gift box without breaking!"

Offended by the remark, Purple took advantage of the lizard's gloating to slice his tail with one of his extended  _PAK-_ legs _._ The bloody limb fell to the ground and twisted in its violet blood (how curious, he imagined Sobrekt blood to be green) for a few more minutes before it went still. Purple contained the urge to throw up. He had half-expected the kryvtor to shriek in agony, but he didn't. He merely winced and bared his teeth as if it were nothing more than a small cut. It disturbed him, even more, when the lizard laughed.

He didn't realize he had given his opponent an opening until the kryvtor's claws came into contact with his face, sending him against one of the nearest consoles. Purple snarled in pain. His  _PAK_ -legs were the only thing that prevented him from tripping and falling to the ground. He brought his hand to his wounded cheek. His warm blood stained his glove as the blood poured out into his hand; Purple winced as he pressed the wound to stop the bleeding.

The kryvtor finally threw off the service drone who had jumped on top of him to halt him while Purple was recovering. "Oh, poor Tally! you're going to wail like a little hatchling because you got a scratch?" he snickered maliciously. "You Irkens are softies!"

Purple barely dodged another slice from the kryvtor's claws by ducking and crawling under him with the  _PAK_ -legs. He took a quick look around. The fight was on an apparent stalemate as both sides struggled to keep going, but the Sobrekt were giving the Elite soldiers a bad time. Irkens are mighty warriors, but they aren't much into physical prowess, which is why they depended on their wit and cunning. In the battlefield, they often used long-range weapons, only a few trained soldiers would successfully wield melee weapons.

Fortunately, Purple met the latter criteria. Back on the Academy, he picked close-ranged combat as an extra class. He loved the rush of adrenaline whenever he sliced enemies up close. This class required extra hours and the instructors were even stricter regarding his physical condition. He was taught to wield swords and spears, forced to fight against bigger opponents in a coliseum-like environment and forced to miss lots of snacking times. But it as worth it.

Seizing a pair of twin plasma swords from a dead kryvtor, he wielded them expertly, cutting his way through the lizards and splattering himself in blood. Its color was similar to his robes, maybe only slightly darker, so it blended with his clothing's coloration. It almost looked clean, but he knew otherwise.

He made a mental note to burn this robe now that it had been infected with Sobrekt germs.

"Told you not to underestimate an Almighty Tallest, lizard!" Purple cried out as he ran one of the blades through someone's skull.

"Your toy swords don't scare me, Irken!"

"Huh, technically these are  _yours_ , so you just insulted your own people's weapons. And from what I hear, you hold them in high regard, don't you?" Purple twirled the sword in his right hand. "I think I'm keeping these. They'll be good for making sandwiches."

The kryvtor hissed and attacked. Despite the new weapons, Purple found himself in a disadvantage over his enemy's superior speed and agility. The kryvtor's claws sliced a bit through his robes, the tips barely came into contact with his flesh, staining the fabric with pink blood.

Purple didn't realize he had been cornered against the wall until he felt his  _PAK_  come into contact with it. Thinking quickly, he propelled himself upwards with his  _PAK_ -propulsors just as the kryvtor's sword sliced through the wall and got stuck. Purple took advantage of the distraction to throw one of the plasma blades directly at the lizard's head; the weapon went right through his throat. The kryvtor collapsed on his knees, and then to the ground as he choked on his own blood.

With the final sobrekt in the bridge apparently dead, Purple leaned against the wall to recover his breath. Damn it, he  _really_  should have kept himself in shape. He was sore, exhausted and hungry. Once this is over, he's going to

Looking around, his squeedly-spooch twisted in disgust. The walls and floor were completely stained with blood from both sides, like a twisted art canvas. Bodies were strewn all over, mostly Irkens, but he also saw the dead lizards. The surviving engineers and soldiers were recovering from the attack; the first thing the majority of them did as soon as they realized they could still walk was rush over to him, frantically asking if he was okay.

"I'm fine! I've had it worse in the Academy, for goodness's sake!" Purple snapped. He did wince a bit from his wounds, however. Nothing his  _PAK_  couldn't deal with, though the deeper ones would probably need healing solution. "Status report!"

The engineers and pilots who didn't get pummeled by the lizards started checking the blood-stained consoles. "The situation in the detention brig is under control, my Tallest. All prisoners are either dead or recaptured."

"The Sobrekt included?"

The pilot read and shifted uncomfortably. "The Sobrekt either died in the battle or killed themselves before they could be captured."

Purple rubbed his temple, cursing under his breath.

"Wait! We have  _one_  sobrekt prisoner!"

That instantly got his attention. "Show me." He hovered closer to the console. In the main screen, he saw footage of an unconscious kryvtor female being pointed at with electric spears by a dozen guards.

"She was the one who disabled the cells' energy containers to let the prisoners out of their confinement."

At least something good came out of this. He turned to a nearby soldier. "Take her to a maximum security cell and see what information you can extract out of her. Tell the... guards to use whatever method they want, but keep her alive." The guard saluted and departed. Purple looked back at the pilot. "Damage recount?"

"Most of the detention brig is intact. Some of the consoles in the bridge will need some fixing, and the technicians are yet to see what that lizard did to the security system. We've lost a high number of soldiers, my Tallest." Damn.

"Sir, should we inform Tallest Red of what transpired?"

"Before anything, bring someone to clean all this up!" Purple gestured to his surroundings, plainly disgusted. His squeedly-spooch twisted again as he realized he was covered in the lizard's blood. "And somebody bring me a bucket, I think I'm going to throw up."

He heard the door opening abruptly. Wow, that was fast. A medic drone rushed in and came to a perfect halt right in front of him. The Irkenette was panting heavily and she looked like she had run out of snacks. She wiggled her lekku, as per tradition, and spoke hurriedly. "My Tallest, something has happened-! Your chambers-! Lady Tenn-!"

His lekku perked up. "Tenn? What's wrong with my wife?!" When the medical drone didn't answer, he lost his patience. He grabbed the drone by the collar of her coat, lifted her up and practically roared in her face. "ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"

"They got to her."


	14. Berserker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenn's life is endangered as she finds herself facing the intruders, and must survive against a Sobrekt Berserker. The victory comes at a great price, however.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I brought his chapter in less time than the last one. What can I say? I've been waiting to write this one for a while now. Just to warn you, it contains quite some violence. I mean, it's the Sobrekt we're talking about. They are like the vikings: they live for battle and are quite bloodthirsty. I'm not going THAt far, though, because the fix isn't rated 'M'.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Tenn was abruptly awakened by a temblor so strong that it nearly made her fall off the bed. Wait a minute, bed? She realized that she was back in the bedroom. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was Tallest Purple arriving and comforting her (weird), she returned the embrace in a moment of weakness, and everything after that… According to her  _PAK_ memories, Tallest Purple carried her all the way here and took Rouge to his crib.

She hated to admit it, but it was… nice on his part.

Back to the present, she was momentarily curious about the temblor that awakened her. What was going on? Did something happen? Down in the engines? She tried to send a  _PAK_ -mail to ask Purple what was going on, but she got an error message saying communications were offline. She tried again a few more times, always getting the same result.

Now she was certain something was going on.

Tenn warily made her way out of the room. The emergency lights were on, confirming her suspicions. She heard wailing coming from Red and Lena's chambers. Rouge must have been startled awake by the commotion. She better go check on him to calm him down. As soon as she picked him up, Rouge tried to crawl back into the pouch, the 'safe place'. She did so for a while if only to quiet him down.

She quickly tried to leave, but the elevator was blocked. Tenn tried to open the door with her hand scan, but the computer rejected it. "Computer, what is the meaning of this?"

" _ **There are intruders attacking the**_ **Massive** _ **, mistress. Tallest Purple gave orders to place your bedchambers in lockdown. Nobody can leave nor enter until he says otherwise.**_ "

Intruders? More of a reason she had to go down and fight! "Computer, I order you to let me out!"

" _ **Petition denied, ma'am. Tallest Purple's orders override yours.**_ "

Desperate, Tenn tried pressing the buttons to override the doors, but all she got in response was beeping and denial messages. She finally gave up with a groan of frustration. From Invader to crystal doll. Just great. "Can you at least tell me who is behind the attack, computer?"

" _ **Sobrekt intruders.**_ "

Tenn stiffened at the mention of the lizards. Great, the last species she wanted to see right now. Had they brought their pets? Hopefully not. "Where is Tallest Purple?"

" _ **In the bridge, dealing with the situation, ma'am—**_ " Suddenly, the computer's voice became distorted and muttered unintelligible words before shutting off completely.

"Computer? Computer!" Tenn called, but there was no reply.

She heard something within the walls. Tenn raised and twitched her lekku to catch the sound: tapping, footsteps, a sort of laser… She even thought she heard talking. Tenn realized what was going on. The Sobrekt had created a diversion in the lower levels to distract the  _Massive_ 's crew and keep them away from their real target: Rouge and her.

Tenn looked down at the frightened, whimpering smeet. He couldn't stay here. Knowing the predatory Sobrekt, they'd go after the more fragile and easier to hunt Rouge. She had to get him out of here somehow. Okay, the elevator was not an option thanks to the lockdown.

Then she remembered: the Tallest had a mini elevator that led directly to the kitchens for whenever they were too lazy to get their own food. Yes, she could send Rouge down and he'd be safe from the lizards. Someone would find him and take him to Tallest Purple.

The Invader quickly made her way to the kitchen, where she hurriedly tapped some buttons on the wall to slide the doors open. She then grabbed a hovering tray and took Rouge out of the pouch. Almost immediately he started to whimper and protest.

"Rouge, listen to me. I'm going to send you down to the kitchen. I want you to stay here until you're found, okay?" She didn't know if he actually understood what she was saying. He just looked at her with frightened blue orbs as she wrapped him in a small towel and sent him down the chute. Tenn sent a PAK-mail to Tallest Purple just to be sure he'd be found.

She almost jumped when a plasma laser blade started cutting through the ceiling. Thinking quickly, she cut through a nearby wall with her PAK's lasers and hid behind it, leaving only enough opening to peek through. She had just put the square-shaped cover back in place when the piece of cut metal fell to the floor with a loud clang.

Three Intruders dropped down from the ceiling. Two kryvtors and a Sobrekt… Tenn froze as she saw the latter's clothing: dark blue loincloth, white helmet reminiscent of a beast, exposed torso with countless scars. She had never seen one of these before, but she had heard tales of them making their way through battlefields in an animalistic rage, killing whoever they had in proximity, even their own allies. Back on the Academy, she heard legends of the white-headed Sobrekt who were particularly violent, crazy and wild… well, more than usual, and whose lust for blood and death was comparable to the Tallest's craving for snacks.

They were known as Berserkers *****.

Tenn cursed her luck. There was no way she could fight in the open against these guys if they had a Berserker on their side. She'd be at a terrible disadvantage. Part of her told her to stay hidden and wait until someone came to look for her and deal with the lizards. If there was something she learned at the Academy, it was that facing a Sobrekt Berserker on your own was suicide:

But the warrior in her refused to stay in her little hideout like a coward. She was an Invader, an Irken Elite Soldier and the conqueror of Meekrob. She had single-handedly ruined the Irken Empire's sworn enemy. She had been the top of her class in the Academy. She'd figure something out. Those lizards would be no match for her. But for now, she watched as the kryvtors started looking around the place while the Berserker just stood there in the middle of the room with a blank expression.

It almost looked like he was in a sort of trance.

"There's nobody here, Kamran!" The dark orange kryvtor cried as he walked out of Tallest Purple's bedroom.

The apparent leader, Kamran, stepped out of Tallest Red and Lena's own. "The crib is empty. Someone took the smeet."

"But who? There's no one here!"

"Don't be so sure of that. Remember the news broadcast? The purple Tallest has a new wife. She's probably here."

The other kryvtor licked his chops. "Ooh, hide and seek. My favorite game. Come out, little Irken! Let's play!"

Tenn analyzed her opponents. The Berserker was the only thing to worry about: she could handle the kryvtors if she could incapacitate the crocodile. Tenn looked into her  _PAK_  and took out the onyon smoke bomb prototypes Ilk had sent her and Purple as a present: they were supposed to release onyon gas alongside the dark smoke that would irritate enemies' eyes in the battlefield, giving Irkens the upper hand in ambushes. She was sure they would be particularly effective against the reptilian Sobrekt.

Tenn gripped the first bomb, taking a deep breath. Once she threw it, the lizards would be aware of her presence. She had to focus on getting rid of the Berserker first before she faced the Kryvtors or she'd be done for. Her  _PAK_ 's plasma cannons should be enough. With one last deep breath to gather courage, Tenn subtly threw one of the bombs at the Sobrekt's feet.

Kamran heard a small tapping sound. Looking around, he saw a small, metal ball rolling their way. "What in the Ancestor's name-?" He didn't get to finish as the sphere suddenly released a green gas all over the room.

Kamran and his companions coughed and tried to fan the awful scent away from their nostrils. The gas had a terrible smell he recognized from his visit to Earth: onions. The blinding fruit. His suspicion was confirmed as his eyes stung and watered up. He rubbed his ocular orbs to soothe the pain, but it was too late. Kiago was already growling and screeching in pain while Sakato was wordlessly blinking and rubbing his irritated eyes.

Kamran quickly screeched into the communicator. "Keela, open the ventilation systems in the Tallest's chambers!"

" _On it, sir_!"

Now was her chance. Tenn sped out of her hideout, brought out her  _PAK_ 's plasma cannon and fired a large, ionized charge at the Berserker. The blast didn't kill him, but it sent him flying through one of the metal walls, leaving a crocodile-shaped, smoking hole in its wake. Okay, one less, now she got-

_**SMACK!** _

Before she knew what had happened, she had been thrown against the kitchen door, which slid open just in time for her to fly right through it and land painfully on her head. Her cheek felt very sore. As she touched it, she found her glove dripping her own blood. Tenn froze. How could they attack her if the onyons are supposed to blind them temporarily? Or maybe it had been a blind but lucky strike. She didn't want to find out.

"Where are you, you little Irken!" she heard the other lizard chuckling sinisterly. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Tenn quickly crawled to hide at the end of the kitchen counter just as the dark kryvtor peered through the door's small, circular glass panel. She quickly retreated her head behind her hideout as he stalked in, making that tapping noise with his talons. She heard more footsteps behind him and Kamran's voice. "The bitch knocked Sakato out."

"No matter, we can handle a single Irkenette by ourselves. Besides, Sakato doesn't let me 'play' with my victims. Oh, can I toy with her a bit? Can I?"

Kamran snorted. "Fine, just don't kill her  _yet_. If we don't have the smeet, at least we can take the female."

Tenn barely contained an exasperated groan. It's no like Tallest Purple would give anything for her safe return. Everyone (except the Tallest themselves) is expendable in the Irken Empire, even her.

The former Invader moved slowly and carefully down the kitchen floor, sticking close to the counter to avoid being seen.

Both lizards had split up to cover more areas of the kitchen, leaving her. She saw the kryvtor's feet, and the larger talon claws that tapped continuously on the floor. She couldn't help but wonder the purpose of that sound. Was it a form of communication or a sort of kryvtor code?

"Nice trick you pulled back there, little Irken! Reminded me of all those times your people would torture my ocular orbs with lots of substances just to see me writhe in pain!" Tenn felt a shiver down her spine as he laughed. That would explain why this one wasn't as affected by the onions as the others. "Haha! Don't worry, I'll treat your pretty little eyes with the utmost care once I pluck them out!"

Okay, Tenn, remember your training. Sobrekt are hardly injured with pistols and guns, she had to use melee weapons to kill one, and even then she had to aim at their weak spot: the throat, the only soft area of skin in their entire bodies. One well-aimed cut could kill even a Berserker, some said. Unfortunately, her  _PAK_  knives had been removed after her marriage to Tallest Purple to avoid… certain arguments and the closest thing she could get was the Sobrekt's own weapons.

Just as if things couldn't get any worse, she received a PAK-mail at that moment. It was a copy of a report from Ilk. Tenn would have dismissed it given the circumstances, but the title,  _Sobrekt weaknesses_ , caught her attention.

The report described conditions that could affect Sobrekt physiology negatively: their cold-blooded status causes the temperature to affect their metabolism directly. Cold temperatures caused them to lose energy more quickly, prompting them to go into hibernation mode. Additionally, sugar consumption can put them in a semi-unconscious state precisely because their slow metabolism takes too long in processing sugars.

Sugar and cold temperatures. A plan started forming in Tenn's mind. If she could get to the Tallest's personal freezer, she could use the ice cream (known to have LOTS of sugar) to incapacitate the lizards and lock them in there. Thank you, Ilk!

Okay, the freezer is a few meters away. Running was not exactly an option: she couldn't outrun a kryvtor even on the  _PAK-_ legs. If she could distract them for long enough, she could at least gain an advantage and run toward the door.

Tenn barely had time to go into a nearby cabinet as Kamran landed right in the corridor. He walked by, sniffing the air. He must be trying to catch her scent. There were lots of unused pans in here, courtesy of Zim. He claimed it was an earthen weapon to knock opponents out with a hit to the head. She grabbed one by the handle and threw it towards the opposite end of the kitchen when Kamran stepped further away. The primitive device struck the wall with a loud clang.

As she expected, the kryvtors instantly reacted. They flew over the counters at top speed to see the source of the sound, giving her a chance to bolt out of her hiding spot and run towards the freezer with all her might. She heard Kamran cry out just as the doors closed shut behind her. *****

Being in here reminded her of when she got stuck with Tallest Purple in Zim's freezer back on Earth. But now was not the time to think of the 'good times'. Tenn quickly looked throughout the ice cream containers looking for a very sweet flavor. Cotton candy, coffee, vanilla, and chips… maybe the chocolate one would do the trick. With trembling hands, Tenn picked the container from its shelves and vacuumed half of it into her  _PAK_. She pointed at the door with the vacuum hoses, aiming right at where their heads would be.

She better hurry before the 'brain freeze' thing happened.

The door was kicked open. Tenn instinctively shot the overly-sweet substance at the kryvtors' faces, hoping their mouths were open. The force of the chocolate stream sent the victim backward. As she ran out of ammunition, however, she found only Kamran on the ground.

The other kryvtor stepped into the freezer, clapping his hands slowly. "Impressive, little Irken. Not many know that Sobrekt are intolerant to sugary substances."

Tenn slipped and fell to the ground when she tried to run away. She froze as the lizard's clawed hand grabbed her by the throat and pinned her against the wall. She closed her eyes shut, remembering the kryvtor's threat about her eyes. One should never take them lightly.

"But then again, Irken Elite soldiers are  _very_ smart, right? You are the 'best of the best in the Irken Armada', after all! I learned it the bad way back on that arena where you Irken scum forced me to fight for the entertainment of the crowds. I learned it as I was forced to fight against my own clan for survival, I had to take the lives of those I loved in order to see the light of another day.

"The torture didn't stop there, no sir! Every night, I was put in a torture chamber where the irken Elites tried to make me talk. They did many unspeakable things to me as they tried to beckon me to reveal my people's weaknesses. There was one time I was forced to stay awake for an entire week though electric spears and serums. Other times they connected my brain to a machine to extract all my knowledge from there.

"Soon, I learned that they enjoyed it whenever I jerked in pain or showed any signs that their torture was working. So I began to act as if I actually  _enjoyed_ it." the kryvtor snickered. "Eventually I  _did_  start to enjoy the pain, you know. It was the only thing that kept me sane after all those years. And it was worth it! HA! The looks on their faces when they realized they weren't breaking me anymore!"

Tenn opened one eye in the slightest, but she wished she hadn't. The kryvtor's pupils were two thin lines, and his eyes were still bloodshot from the exposure to the onyon gas, which gave him an insane look. The tone of his voice matched his crazed expression. The torture he went through seemed to have caused him permanent brain damage. The kryvtor smiled at her as soon as he noticed she had opened her eye.

"You  _do_  have beautiful eyes, little Irken. I will definitely take special care of them. Surely you don't mind if I take them, do you? From what I hear, you can just get another pair. Your mate is the Tallest, isn't he? You'll have no problem with that." To his confusion, his victim started to… laugh. "What's so funny, if I may know?"

Tenn smirked at the kryvtor. "Want to hear some friendly advice? If you're going to kill someone, just  _do it_. Don't waste time on useless monologue!"

Both looked down at his abdomen, where she had silently injected some of the sugary substance into his body as he spoke. The effect was immediate. His pupils dilated and his grip on Tenn loosened to the point he let her fall to the ground. His last words before collapsing were 'smart move, my little irken'.

Tenn released the breath she didn't know she had been holding. Quickly, she made her way out of the freezer. Without any time to lose, she dragged Kamran's unconscious body inside and left the two kryvtors inside, locking the door behind her. Okay, that two down, now she only needed to deal with the crocodile.

She heard a roar-like scream coming from the living room. Tenn grabbed one of the kunai-like blades Kamran had dropped. She might not be good at melee combat, but it would come in handy when she faced off against the monster.

As she ran out of the kitchen, she found the Berserker back on his feet. Tenn felt a shiver down her spine when he spotted her. He was salivating hungrily and both pupils were so thin they were almost invisible. The air he gave was different than when he came in. He roared at her again, this time sounding more like a bellowing sound from deep within his throat.

He lunged at her, jaws wide open and claws outstretched. Tenn quickly jumped out of the way just as he crashed against the couch, but he didn't seem to realize he had grabbed the wrong target, as he began to tear it apart with his bare teeth like a rabid Digestor. Tenn used her  _PAK_ -legs to climb up the wall, but before she could move any higher the Berserker's jaws grabbed unto one of her robotic limbs and started to flail her around like a rag doll. Tenn detached the broken limb, but in doing so she was sent flying against the wall.

_**CRACK!** _

Tenn yelled in pain as her shoulder moved out of place due to the force of impact. She bit her lip, closed her eyes shut and had her PAK sent painkillers and adrenaline to lessen with the pain while she dealt with this. A cramp in her abdomen made her slide back to the ground. Damn it!

To make things worse, the Berserker finally realized she was no longer in his power and snapped her robotic limb in half with a bite. His eyes scanned the room until he found her again. Tenn forced herself to get back on her feet despite the pain, clutching her limp arm tightly and holding back some tears. With her remaining  _PAK_ -legs, she wobbled back up, but it was hard to keep her balance on just three legs, two without counting the one she was using to hold Kamran's kunai.

Once again, the Sobrekt was the first to attack, and she barely managed to dodge it, though this time she did manage to injure his arm. But this only seemed to anger her opponent, and his attacks became more unpredictable and wild. He  _almost_  grabbed another  _PAK_ -leg, but instead he switched targets at the last moment and clawed at Tenn's robe, injuring her waist in the process. At the same time, Tenn managed to drive one of her  _PAK_ -legs right through his chest where she thought his heart should be, but to her shock he merely tore it off and continued with the rampage, splattering his purple blood all over in the process.

The battle took a toll on the lounge as the Berserker destroyed everything around him in his trance. The couches had been clawed and torn apart, spreading cotton and silk everywhere. The walls had been dented and released sparks every now and then. Drops and pools of pink and purple blood decorated the carpet and furniture like a twisted canvas of death.

Tenn realized she'd run out of energy far before he did. She had already lost a lot of blood, she lost two  _PAK_ -legs and her left arm was incapacitated. She had to end this  _now_. She had one chance to dig the kunai into the crocodile's throat and kill him once and for all, but it was  _very_  risky, and if she failed it'd be the end…

Irkens don't exactly believe in an afterlife. If you die, you die. Period. Your  _PAK_  is retrieved and saved for future generations of smeets, who will gain your personality, knowledge, and traits. The  _PAK_  is the closest thing the Irkens would consider a soul. Irkens are not afraid of death despite the knowledge that they'd probably cease to exist when it happened. They live and die to serve their Empire, and they did so with dignity. *****

Part of Tenn, however, wanted to believe that if she  _did_  die, she'd see Dren again, join him in wherever he was now, and get out of this hell. With this in mind, she cried out. "Hey, pea-brain! What's the matter?! You can't handle a 'little Irken'?! Perhaps the stories about you are exaggerated!"

The Berserker roared and lunged at her again, but this time Tenn did not jump left nor right to avoid it. Instead, she slid down under him and threw the dagger right at his exposed throat. The Sobrekt let out a screech of pain as the blood poured out of the fatal injury.

However, Tenn had completely forgotten about the tail. In one last attempt to drag her down with him, the Berserker used his remaining strength to strike at her abdomen, sending her against the wall a final time before he fell to the ground, unmoving.

Tenn felt something inside her break as the monster's tail came into contact with her body. This time she couldn't contain a scream of pain nor the tears as she felt blood trickling down her legs. Time slowed down. She just lay on the ground for what seemed an eternity until sweet unconsciousness claimed her. The last thing she heard before everything went black was someone screaming her name.

* * *

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

"My Tallest, you must wait outside-!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO WAIT OUTSIDE WHEN MY WIFE IS DYING INSIDE! STEP ASIDE OR I'LL HAVE THROW YOU OUT OF THE AIRLOCK MYSELF!"

"S-Sir, I understand you're worried about your wife, but right now taller smeet Rouge needs someone to look after him! And with all due respect, you'll make things harder for the medical team!"

Purple wanted to keep protesting and to throw this damn doctor out of the airlock with his bare hands, true to his word, but he knew he was right. He had no choice but to step back as the medical drone went back into the infirmary, which had been mostly disoccupied so that the best medics could focus solely on Tenn, locking the door behind him.

The sight of his beautiful Tenn on the ground, bleeding and almost dead, was still haunting him. He never imagined the lizards would find a way to his chambers nor that they would… He almost cried as he held her in his arms, begging her to hang on as the medic drones placed her on a floating stretcher and took her away. He tried to go in, but of course, the medic drones came up with this and forced him to stay outside.

Rouge was found in the  _Massive_ 's kitchen, in the chute that connected it directly with their chambers. Apparently, Tenn sent him down so that the Sobrekt wouldn't be able to find him. The poor smeet was terrified, trembling, and wailing his lungs out when one of the soldiers brought him to Purple. It took him a long while to calm him down and lull him back to sleep. This kept him distracted for some time.

Purple then realized that the  _Massive_  was still in chaos from the unexpected attack, and all available troops, crewmembers, and soldiers were awaiting orders from him. The first thing he ordered was to send a message to Tallest Red and inform him of what transpired. Then he had the soldiers get rid of the bodies and the service drones clean everything up. He wasn't going to step in any room that had Sobrekt blood in it, not even his own. During the cleaning, he was informed that two more kryvtors were found in the freezer. One of them was alive, the other had committed suicide by slicing his guts out. Just great, all his precious ice cream was ruined.

But he'd deal with it later. Right now the main concern was to get the  _Massive_  working again. Purple made sure that all the prisoners that had broken out were either dead or re-imprisoned. The unconscious, half-frozen kryvtor found in the freezer would soon make his girlfriend company in the maximum security cell. Purple casually found a detailed report from Ilk describing how cold temperatures and sugars could be harmful to Sobrekt. This would explain why the lizards were found in the freezer in the first place: Tenn must have read that report first and based her strategy on it. Purple felt proud of both his wife and his niece.

A few hours later, the  _Massive_  was back to normal, it  _almost_  felt as if nothing had happened at all. The only evidence was his beloved Tenn still in the medical ward being treated. As Purple made his way back to wait outside for news of his wife, he was informed that Red and Lena had finally returned. He sent them a  _PAK_ -mail telling them to meet him outside the medical ward.

So Purple waited in the corridor, holding his trembling nephew in his hands. Not long after, he heard a familiar voice cry out. "ROUGE!" Rouge instantly reacted and started looking around and cry out for his mama.

Lena abruptly came and snatched her smeet from his hands to hold him against her chest, peppering him with kisses and head rubs. Rouge sobbed and whimpered as he snuggled against the familiar embrace.

Red joined them not long after. Lena must have left him behind at the hangar, judging by how he was panting heavily. Once he recovered his breath, he cried out. "Purple! What happened?! Are you alright?!"

"I and Rouge are fine," Purple said simply, watching as his co-Tallest checked on his smeet to make sure he wasn't hurt. "Tenn sent him down the kitchen shut to save him from the Sobrekt. It seems they  _were_  after him, after all."

Lena looked at him. "How is Tenn? Is she alright?"

"I don't know, those  _incompetent_   _fools_  won't tell me anything yet!" Purple snapped at the door, raising his voice enough so they could hear him. "I swear, if they don't hurry up They're all going out of the airlock!"

"Purple, calm down!"

"How am I going to calm down?! My wife is probably dying and I can't do anything about it!"

"Don't worry, as long as her  _PAK_  is intact, she'll be fine."

Lena placed Rouge in Red's hands and knocked on the medical ward's door. "I'm Taller Lena, let me in!"

To Purple's astonishment, one of the medic drones allowed her into the room, but the doors closed again before he could take a peek. In his frustration, he started banging on the door, demanding to be let in.

"Pur, quit it!" Red snarled as he pulled him away. "You'll only make things worse!"

"Worse than this?! Is that even  _possible_?!"

Red took a deep breath. "Lena's going to tend to her, she'll be alright. She was a medical drone, remember? The best of her class. She'll save Tenn."

Purple finally gave up. He leaned back against the wall, taking a hand to his forehead. "I can't lose her, Red… I just can't… Not after we…"

He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that, Purple."

"I'm afraid, Red. What if she…?" He couldn't even bring himself to finish the sentence. He didn't want to think it was a possibility, but he had seen the state Tenn was in when he found her. He knew where all the blood in her robe came from. He tried not to think about it and convince himself the blood was from another injury, but part of him knew it was a lie.

Hours went by again. Purple paced outside the door, waiting for any news until he got tired of walking and called a chair drone so he could sit down. Red, meanwhile, was tending to Rouge until he managed to lull him to sleep. Since he lacked a pouch to put him in, however, he had to put him in his lap after calling a chair drone for himself. Purple couldn't really imagine his co-Tallest with a smeeting pouch.

To kill time, eventually, both started reading Ilk's report on the Sobrekt's biological weaknesses. Red got a good laugh when he learned that sugar could incapacitate them. Purple would have joined in if the circumstances weren't so dire.

At some point, he dozed off. His lekku twitched at the sound of the medical ward's doors opening again. He was instantly on his feet. "How's Tenn?!" he asked instinctively.

There was a grave look on Lena's face. "Purple... "

"What?! She's not dead, is she? Tell me something! ANYTHING!" Red's backhand came into contact with Purple's cheek. He glared at his co-Tallest. "Was that necessary?!"

"Calm down!" Red hissed and gestured to Rouge, who was still asleep in his father's hand. The smeet shifted a bit, but he didn't show signs that he'd wake up at any time soon.

Purple took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "Lena, how is Tenn?"

"Most of her physical wounds have been treated. Her  _PAK_  healed the smaller ones, but the deep claw marks had to be stitched closed with healing gel and laser treatment. Her shoulder's been moved back into place too. She has to stay in bed for a few days to be sure, but other than that she'll be fine..."

Purple took the following silence as a bad omen. "There's a but, isn't it?"

"Purple… you may want to sit down."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"Did you and Tenn have… sexual intercourse?"

"How is that relevant to her condition?" He replied with another question, hoping to avoid having to answer it.

"We checked her  _PAK_  for her memories on what transpired. During her fight against the Berserker, she was hit in the abdomen and thrown against the wall."

"What are you saying, Lena?" Red asked warily. Purple had an idea of what she was saying, but he didn't want to hear what Lena would say. Part of him knew what words would leave her mouth, but he couldn't bring himself to cover his ears. He just stared at her pleadingly, silently begging her not to say the words.

"Purple…" Lena took a deep breath, giving him a sorrowful look as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tenn miscarried."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Berserkers were viking warriors who were said to enter a sort of trance-like fury in battle. Sobrekt have a similar branch in their military; there are kryvtor and sobrekt Berserkers, but the latter are more common due to their more fearsome looks and superior physical strength.
> 
> *This whole part in the kitchen is an allusion to Jurassic Park, in which the children hid from the Velociraptors in the kitchen. Curiously, the kryvtors themselves are anthropomorphic velociraptors.
> 
> *Headcanon: from what we've seen of the Irkens so far, they don't follow any sort of religion (their blind loyalty and admiration fo their Tallest doesn't count), so they probably don't believe in an afterlife either. Besides, considering PAKs of dead irkens are normally saved for the next generation, and PAKs contain an Irken's personality and memories, in a way they practice rebirth of some sort.
> 
> Oh, my, things are getting dark. Poor Tenn. And we're yet to see Purple's reaction to the news.


	15. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Purple's grief over his loss leads him to make a reckless decision, potentially making things harder for Ilk. Tenn learns of her miscarriage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for not updating Indokani last week, and I probably won't be able on this one either. I came to Orlando on vacation, you see, and I decided to also take a bit of a break from writing. I already had this chapter of Shades pre-made a while ago, so I decided to update it this time instead. Hopefully, I'll be able to work on Indokani when I get home.
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy!

When she finally started regaining consciousness, her lekku picked up a constant beeping sound that annoyed her to no end *****. _Will somebody turn it off already?!_ That's what she wanted to say, but oddly she couldn't find the strength to speak. She tried to move, but her limbs were unresponsive. Her head hurt and pulsated in pain.

She tried opening her eyes, but she had to close them again as a bright white light overcame her ocular implants. Eventually, she got adjusted to the light enough to open her eyes again. It was then that she realized she was in the _Massive_ 's medical wing. It was currently unoccupied, and all the (female) medical drones were focused on her alone. The beeping was coming from a nearby console displaying her vital signs.

Tenn tried to remember how she got here, but her organic mind was blurry and her _PAK_ was far too busy repairing her wounds to access the memories stored there. Looking down at her body, she noted her torso was wrapped up in bandages.

She felt an awful soreness in the lower part of her abdomen. Her _PAK_ 's painkillers, plus the ones the medics probably administered her, lessened it considerably but she could still feel it.

"Ah, you're awake, Lady Tenn!" one of the medics sounded deeply relieved as she finally noticed her. "Someone inform Tallest Purple!"

"What…? What happened?" Tenn asked, her voice hoarse. She tried to move again.

"Ma'am, we disabled your PAK's connection to your nervous system to speed up the healing of your internal wounds. ***** "

Well, that explained her immobility. "How long have I been out?"

The medic lowered her lekku slightly. "Two days."

" _That_ long? Was I _that_ injured?"

"That savage threw you against the wall so you got plenty of internal and external damage. You were very fortunate to survive an encounter with a Sobrekt Berserker with all of your limbs intact."

"What happened to the Sobrekt?"

"Most of them have been dealt with, ma'am. That's all you need to know for now."

Tenn raised her lekku, the only part of her body she could still move. "Rouge! Is he okay?!"

The medic panicked and gestured her to calm down. "Calm down, ma'am! Taller smeet Rouge is with his mother, safe and sound." With his mother? Lena and Tallest Red must have returned while she was out.

"How long am I going to stay here? I feel pretty good." Tenn said. She had _never_ liked to stay in the infirmary for long. It made her feel weak.

"I'd prefer that you stay for a few more hours, ma'am. It's to make sure your body is completely healed."

Tenn felt the soreness in her stomach becoming uncomfortable. She would have shifted if her _PAK_ weren't disconnected. "Hey, could you do something about my abdomen? It's hurting.

For a brief moment, she thought she saw a panic flash in the medic's eyes. "Um, we'll give you a bit more of anesthetics, ma'am. Just relax." She had the feeling the medic wasn't telling her everything.

Damn it. Tenn let her head fall back unto the pillow with a frustrated groan. She tried counting irkorses to kill time, but eventually, it got boring. Then she glanced at the equipment that read on her body's vital signs and saw that everything seemed to be okay. She counted the medics tending to her and noted all of them were irkenettes. Undoubtedly work of her husband. Speaking of which, where was he? Hadn't he gotten hurt during the attack?

Once her headache finally ceased, she recalled what had happened more or less. The kryvtors and the Berserker attacked, she managed to trap the former two inside the freezer and then engaged the Berserker… Everything after that was a blur. The last thing she remembered was the Sobrekt's tail coming into contact with her stomach and sending her against the wall. Eventually, her lack of things to do plus the comfortable pillow made her fall again.

She was awakened not long after by a _very_ familiar voice speaking in hushed tones with the medics. Tenn opened an eye slightly and spotted Tallest Purple talking with the head medic. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but he looked serious. There was a concerned frown on his face; was he worried about her, or only about 'his' smeet? She quickly closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was asleep when he approached her. She felt his fingers tenderly stroking her head.

"Tenn?" He asked.

Her lekku twitched. There was something about his voice. He sounded… sad almost. Instinctively, she opened her eyes slightly. His expression confirmed it; it was doleful and sad. His fingers were tenderly brushing against her cheek. "My Tallest?"

He cooed gently. "It's okay. The lizards have been taken care of." Tenn noticed some, almost unnoticeable sprinkles of purple blood in his robes. She could only imagine what he had been doing while she was in here.

"What happened?"

"You were knocked out by a Berserker. We found you unconscious in the lounge. You've been recovering for two days."

"I heard it already. How's Rouge?"

"He's okay. He's still a bit shaken over what happened, but he's with Lena and Red, so he'll be fine. Before you ask, they arrived when you were still unconscious."

Tenn couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on. Tallest Purple sounded… upset. She had never heard him like this. When he had to return to Tallest duty, he kissed her forehead and told the medics to inform him when she was ready to leave the infirmary. Where were the darkness and controlling demeanor he was known for? The parts of him she knew best? Their absence confirmed that something had happened while she was out.

The medics ran a few more tests on her body and _PAK_ for a few more hours before they finally released her. She was about to make her way out of the infirmary when Tallest Purple returned and insisted on carrying her to the bedroom. She tried to decline, but he picked her up and didn't give her a chance to protest. She tried asking what was wrong, but he always found a way to avoid the topic.

"Tenn, are you okay?" Lena asked as soon as they went into the lounge.

"For the hundredth time, I'm _fine_ ," Tenn said. It was a half-lie; the aching in her abdomen was still pulsating every few minutes.

"I must say, Tenn, I'm impressed!" Tallest Red said. "Not everyone survives an encounter with a Berserker and makes it out alive with all their limbs intact."

"That's what I've heard."

"Okay, you two, leave her alone for now. She still needs to rest." Tenn realized it was futile to protest, so she only mumbled under her breath as Tallest Purple took her to their bedroom. He carefully placed her down to tuck her in. "Honey, there's… something I have to take care of. I should be back in a few hours…"

"Where are you going?" She didn't _really_ care what he did, but his attitude was pretty suspicious.

Instead of joking or making a teasing comment, Tallest Purple merely stroked her head and offered her the tiniest of smiles. "If you need anything, you can call Lena or a service drone." He kissed her forehead one last time and departed, leaving her _very_ confused.

Lena came in shortly after. She was carrying a small dish. "You okay, Tenn? I figured you'd be hungry."

"And you're right!" Tenn said, taking the fried moose-shminky and giving it a big bite. She raised her lekku. "Hey, this is good. Is it from Foodcourtia?"

"Straight from Shloogorgh's. Purple ordered some for you. He and Red get their meals from of the time." No wonder it's so good. Food service drones _always_ leave whatever they are doing if the restaurant gets an order from the Tallest themselves.

She had heard many things of that restaurant in particular, mostly that Zim worked there for his sentence until he got away _twice_. She had eaten there a few times before and found the food more or less acceptable. This time, however, the dish was actually delicious.

"Squeak!" Tenn saw Rouge's head poking out from the pouch. To her surprise, he crawled out of it and clumsily made his way towards her arm to rub his head against it, purring.

"He really likes you," Lena said while glancing down at her smeet. She didn't laced her hand on her shoulder. "Tenn, I want to thank you for saving my son." She said with a tender expression of gratitude. "If it weren't for you, those lizards might have done something to him… thank you from the bottom of my squeedly-spooch."

Tenn smiled lightly. "It's the least I could do after all you've done for me…"

She noticed something about Lena's gaze. She was grateful, alright, but Tenn also saw… sympathy and sadness. She must know something. Tenn took a deep breath. "Lena, is there something wrong? I feel like everyone knows something that I don't, and I don't like it. I saw Purple talking to the medic, but he wouldn't tell me anything. The doctors were pretty evasive too. Will you _please_ tell me what's happening?"

Lena sighed after a few moments of silence. "Tenn…" she whispered. The sadness intensified as she grabbed her hand. "You need to be strong for what I'm going to tell you."

"What do you mean…? Strong…?" Tenn inquired, confused. "Did I sustain another injury I don't know about?"

Lena took a deep breath. "The Berserker's tail struck your abdomen and sent you against the wall. The impact caused the embryo in your spooch-sac to detach from the wall and be ejected…"

"Embryo?" Tenn opened her eyes and raised her lekku. "Wait… do you mean…?"

"You miscarried, Tenn."

She had heard of miscarriages before. It's a common risk in Irken pregnancy since their reproductive sacs aren't as effective as before. But she never imagined that _she_ would go through that.

Tenn looked down at her abdomen. She suspected she was pregnant; the external insemination had worked. This explained her strange behavior these past few days. The pillow nest, the craving for 'pizza', her mood swings…

"Tenn, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Tenn said simply after a few moments of silence.

"If you want to cry or…"

"Really, I'm fine." She insisted. "I'd like to sleep if you don't mind."

Lena nodded. "If you need anything, I'll be outside."

Once alone, Tenn processed the information she just learned. It was only a half-truth. She was actually quite confused. The knowledge that a smeet, _her_ smeet, had died before even being born bothered her and almost made her cry. It almost felt like part of her died with it. But on the other hand, she hadn't wanted the smeet in the first place. It was a means to an end: giving Tallest Purple the heir he wanted in exchange for her freedom. Part of her felt glad not to carry his DNA inside her anymore.

What concerned her was how Tallest Purple was taking this. Judging by his odd behavior, he knew it and decided to let Lena tell her the bad news. The drops of purple blood gave her an idea as to what he had been doing. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the sobrekt survivors.

* * *

If one were asked to guess who was ruthless between him and Red, most people would say Red was. Those who worked aboard the _Massive_ and the few aliens who survived an encounter with him, however, knew otherwise. Purple always made sure of it. It served as a warning to others not to cross him.

When he was finally allowed into the infirmary and saw the state Tenn was in, he wasn't sure of how to react at first. He wanted to hold her close, but it wasn't possible because of all the IVs and cables connected to her _PAK_ and body. His grief intensified as his eyes fixed on her flat abdomen, touching it with a trembling hand. His smeet, his child… _their_ child… It was gone.

As he stood there, he was overcome by a whirlwind of emotions. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to tear everything apart. He wanted to tear the bastard responsible for this apart, but the Berserker was already dead. There was nothing he could do except beat his body into a pulp, but it did little to appease his pain. So he decided to vent off with the prisoners that were still alive.

Being on your planet's surface right when it was blown up or terraformed in the organic sweep is a paradise compared to his wrath. That's because those aliens' deaths were quick and painless. Purple, however, always makes sure his victims _didn_ 't die. He keeps them alive as he tortures them either to obtain information, vent off his anger or just to spend the time when watching organic sweeps and pummeling Invaders became monotone and boring.

This time, the dark mood he irradiated was notable even from afar. Everyone made sure to stay clear away from him unless he called them, and when he did they only spoke when he talked to them. Even Red kept his distance. Good. He didn't want to talk to anyone, not right now. Those who did were thrown out of the airlock by his own hands.

When he was finally informed that Tenn was awake, he didn't know what to say. How would she take the news? He didn't have the heart to tell her himself, so he asked Lena to tell her. When she inquired as to what was going on, it took him a great effort not to break down. He quickly fled the scene and left the uncomfortable task to Lena.

He went straight to the terrace and blocked the elevator so he wouldn't be bothered. Once he was sure he was alone and out of earshot, _then_ he broke down. He tore down whatever happened to be in front of him, trying to vent off as much as he could. He broke chairs, tables, plants and even cables with his hands or _PAK_ -lasers until there was nothing else to destroy. Then he fell to his knees, panting heavily and covered in a mild coating of sweat.

Purple was startled by an unfamiliar humidity in the corners of his eyes. He wiped it with a hand and realized they were tears. He hadn't cried in a long time ever since… He wiped his eyes. _Never again_. He wasn't the crybaby anymore. He was an Almighty Tallest. He had to set the example to the shorter ones. He couldn't show weakness. He wouldn't.

The pain diminished as his anger returned tenfold. This isn't going to end here. The lizards won't be getting away with this. They would pay for this with their blood. They'd regret ever setting a foot aboard his ship and laying their filthy alien hides on his wife.

Purple didn't realize he had returned to the bridge until he found himself in his seat in front of the screen. "Contact the Sobrekt leader." His voice was cold and harsh, like the first frost of winter on some planets.

He noticed some of the pilots exchanging concerned glances. "My Tallest, with all due respect, are you sure?"

"Didn't you hear me? Call that overgrown crocodile."

"Sir, it wouldn't be wise to confront the Sobrekt in your current emotional state-"

Purple stood off and glared at the pilot in question, towering over him in a threatening display of dominance. "Are you _defying_ a direct order from your Tallest?"

The pilot flattened his lekku against his head, trembling. "N-No, of course not, sir!"

"Then shut up and do as I say."

The pilots sent a transmission to Sobr as he sat back down, tapping his fingers on his armrest rhythmically. It wasn't long before the bastard lizard picked up the call. The _Shuryo_ was seated on his mithrilium seat, staring back at him with a perplexed look.

" _To what do I owe the call, your Tallest *****?_" he asked. His voice was devoid of haughtiness and arrogance. Guess the lizard could tell he was not in the mood to deal with that.

"Oh, you _know_ why I'm calling you, lizard. I must say, it took you a long while to launch an attack on the _Massive_. What did you say about 'biting more than you can chew?'"

The _Shuryo_ blinked. " _What attack? I didn't order such a thing, your Tallest. If I_ had _, you wouldn't even be calling me in the first place. You'd already be dead and your head hanging on my wall_."

"It's a curious claim, considering that your soldiers infiltrated the Irken flagship, caused severe property damage, put my wife's life at risk and…" Purple gripped his armrests to the point of almost drawing blood on his fingers. He wouldn't give the lizard the pleasure to know he had hit him where it hurts the most. "We got two of your soldiers alive, and they confirmed it."

" _Whatever they told you is a lie. I never ordered an attack on the_ Massive _._ " The _Shuryo_ 's voice turned hostile. " _But I_ should _have after you sent an Invader to my planet._ "

"That Invader was not up to the challenge." Purple chuckled darkly. "Ah, but believe me, sooner or later, your people will fall. And when you do, I'll be more than happy to fire the first cannon of the organic sweep."

The _Shuryo_ got to his feet. " _Is that a threat, your Tallest?_ " He bared his teeth. " _You think you can just call and accuse me of something I_ didn't _do just because your transgressors belong to my people?!_ "

Purple knew what the lizard meant to say. "Take it as you wish, lizard. I wouldn't try to negotiate a safe return for your soldiers, by the way." He chuckled evilly. "I always wanted a crocodile skin wallet."

The pilots gasped in shock. The _Shuryo_ clenched his fists as his pupils turned to slits. " _Very well, then. You asked for it, your tallest._ " Despite his composed demeanor, Purple could read the crocodile's anger in his eyes and voice. " _Consider ourselves at_ war."

The transmission was cut off.

* * *

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Purple would usually flinch when Red yells at him. Red was always the more mature of the two, like a big brother who had to keep him in check so he'd do his homework and scolded him if he didn't. Purple might be the scariest one, but that side of him is often hidden underneath his immaturity and childish tendencies. You could say it's a Jekyll and Hyde thing: his darker side only comes out if his berserk button is pressed.

This time was of the latter cases. Purple merely stared back at his co-Tallest, tapping his fingers on the couch. "I guess they told you." Shortly after ending the transmission he returned to the lounge while Lena went to the cafeteria with Rouge. Red arrived fuming fifteen minutes later.

"Purple, I swear, of _all_ the reckless things you have done, this is the _worst_!" Red snapped. "Do you realize what this means?! This could seriously compromise Ilk's mission!"

"Red, with an Invader on Sobr right under their noses, things will be _easier_ for us. That IS an Invader's job, remember?"

"This isn't just some backwater planet or a planet of nerd military-less goats! It's fucking SOBR! We didn't start a war with them before for a reason!"

Purple frowned. "Really, Red, when did you lose your backbone? You didn't stop saying you'd fire the first organic sweep on Sobr when we were at the Academy."

"You mean before the lizards sent a fucking head?!"

"If you're that worried about Ilk's safety, why did you want her to become an Invader in the first place?" Purple spat matter-of-factly. "It's one of the most dangerous careers, if not _the_ most. You knew from the beginning that she'd be in hostile territory and the risk that she'd be assigned to a dangerous target."

"That's not the point, Purple! The point is that you just probably made things even more difficult to her!"

Purple got to his feet. "If you don't believe in your own daughter's ability and skill, perhaps you should have let the Control Brains re-encode her."

"You don't understand it! You just-! That's easy for you to say when you have no idea what having a child is like-!" Red didn't get to finish as Purple abruptly grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him against the wall, spreading out his _PAK_ -legs in a threat display.

He just had to bring _that_ topic! He had to rub it in his face that he was not a father, reminding him that he had lost the chance in the most horrible way possible. Purple's vision went momentarily red as he pinned his co-Tallest.

" _Of course I have no idea! Do you know why?! Because those fucking lizards KILLED MY SMEET before he was even born!_ _Those lizards nearly killed my wife while you were off sunbathing on the beach! What would YOU have done if_ you _had lost a child like this?!_ "

The next few minutes were silent. Purple took deep breaths as he tried to calm down, glaring into his co-ruler's eyes with sorrowful anger. Red's lekku were flat against his head as he stared right back in shock. "P-Pur... " The regret in his voice made Purple calm down a bit, but only a bit. The damage was already done. "I d-didn't mean it like that…"

" _ **Incoming transmission from Sobr.**_ "

The tension diminished considerably, but at the same time, he felt a shiver down his spine. Was Ilk going to tell them what he thought she would tell them? Purple let go of his co-Tallest and went back to his side of the couch just as Red had the computer put the transmission through.

Ilk looked on high-alert. Her raised lekku twitched constantly. Perhaps this is how she noticed the tension between him and Red. " _Is this a bad time?"_

"No, sweetie," Red lied. "How's your mission going?"

" _I wanted to ask you: did you make the_ Shuryo _angry somehow? Today he announced we're officially at war with the Irken Empire. He was pretty serious about it, too. You should have seen it, everyone left what they were doing to cheer. Looks like it's been a while since the Sobrekt were at war with a 'worthy opponent'._ "

Red glanced at him briefly with the slightest hint of a frown. Purple averted his gaze. "Did he mention there might be an Invader on Sobr?"

" _I think he suspects it. He didn't outright announce it because it would cause witch-hunts and worldwide panic, but he's sent his K'agek out._ "

"His _what_?" Purple inquired.

DIR cut in. " _The K'agek, also known as Sobr's Dark Side, are a particular branch of Sobrekt military whose main goal is the_ Shuryo' _s safety. They only intervene in critical situations, as the Sobrekt leader is the strongest one alive and usually needs no protection. Instead, the K'agek are dispatched by their leader on special and usually confidential operatives. In this case, he probably sent them out to confirm an Invader's presence_."

Purple felt a shiver down his spine, and judging from Red's face he must be having similar thoughts. "Do they suspect you?"

Ilk shifted uncomfortably. " _Well, so far they haven't knocked on my door, so I guess I'm safe for now._ "

Both he and Red sighed in relief. At least she's out of danger for now.

" _But really, what happened, dad? What did you do to make the_ Shuryo _that angry?_ "

Red did frown at him this time. Purple sighed. "You could say it's my fault, Ilk…" His fists clenched again. "But _he_ started it and that's all I'll say."

Ilk looked like she wanted to keep asking, but thankfully she seemed to notice his tone of voice. " _Okay. Hey, how's Tenn doing? I sent her a_ PAK _-mail about two days ago and she hasn't replied._ " Purple became tense again to the point he had to avert his gaze before she noticed something was off. Thankfully, Red stepped in.

"Oh, she's okay! She just… Well, she was so tired after the ambush that she went to… Vort to rest in the Universe's Most Comfortable Couch! Yeah, that's right! She was probably so relaxed that she didn't see your message!"

Ilk didn't seem to buy it. However, she only shrugged it off. " _Okaay… guess I'll just call her later. The message described the defects of cold temperatures and sugar in the Sobrekt. They have zero tolerance for either._ _They even hibernate during their winter, from what I've learned._ "

"Yeah, Tenn figured it out when she locked the lizards in the freezer," Purple added with a dry chuckle. He realized he was acting too seriously. She was going to suspect something was wrong. "It would have been nice if she hadn't wasted my chocolate ice cream! Now I'll have to call Zim for more!" He added with an extra-dramatical flair, even making a childish pout.

Ilk was more convinced with that act. " _Chill out, uncle Pur, it's not that bad. Ice cream actually has those two things that make a Sobrekt vulnerable: sugar and cold temperature. Who knows? Perhaps you could use it to your advantage._ "

Purple decided that was his cue to leave before his emotions got the better of him again. Excusing himself to go for a nap, he made his way into his bedroom, leaving Red chatting with Ilk over a way to weaponize ice cream. He wasn't even in the mood to make one of his silly suggestions, such as an ice cream ray gun for when he got a fancy for it (it wasn't such a bad idea, though. He made a mental note to ask the engineers aboard the _Massive_ to make him one later).

As he spotted his wife's sleeping figure under the covers, he couldn't help but wonder how she had taken the news. He almost woke her, but his hand froze in the last second. No, it would be better to let her rest after such an experience. Purple lay down next to her and pulled her close protectively. Tenn stirred a bit, but she didn't wake up. Instead, she unconsciously snuggled against his embrace.

" _Dren_ …"

For this once, Purple decided to let it slip. What mattered was that she was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A call to Octopusfan13's The Breeding Project. In one chapter, Purple is awakened in a similar manner right at the beginning. I recommend that fic for those who ship RaPR.
> 
> *Second reference back to The Breeding Project. No spoilers, I'll just say that a similar method was used to heal.
> 
> *The reason the Sobrekt refer to the Almighty Tallest as your tallest instead of my tallest is because the crocs are taller than them, but they still use the term as a show of courtesy.


	16. Warfare 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Irkens discuss the war against the Sobrekt. Ilk discusses her part of her plan.

The following weeks were _very_ stressful for Tenn. No matter how many times she said she was okay, it seemed like it didn't go through anyone's lekku. Whenever she was out of bed, she was accompanied by Irken elites, which her husband assigned to be her bodyguards. Wherever she went, she sensed the gazes of doleful sympathy coming from all over. Some bold shorter ones would ask if she was feeling okay. It seemed like the news about her miscarriage had already spread out. She _hated_ it. They seemed to have forgotten that she was the Conqueror of Meekrob, not some porcelain doll that must be put on a display case. More than once, she snapped at, whoever asked her if she was okay.

Some would squeal in delight when she graced them with her presence. She heard excited whispers and a new nickname: _Berserker's Bane_. If conquering Meekrob is a great feat, apparently defeating a Sobrekt Berserker single-handedly is even better. Tenn found herself more tolerant of this group of admirers, but she'd still snap at them now and then. The only difference was that they fainted out of sheer excitement instead of cowering in fear.

More than once, she heard the soldiers and Elites talking about a war. Tallest Purple declared war to the Sobrekt for sending those assassins into the _Massive_ and nearly killing her, but overall for killing his unborn smeet. Part of her was touched that he would go that far for her, but the more rational part of her thought it was a reckless and outright stupid thing to do: the lizards had a grim reputation regarding warfare. It isn't just a way to assert dominance over other species for them; it's their _way of life_. It wouldn't surprise her if they were the ones to make the first strike. Days later, this proved to be accurate as the Sobrekt attacked _Agricultia_ , the planet that provided rations for the Armada, and put it under siege. She tried to learn more, but the files involving the war were classified, and she had no access to them. Guess Tallest Purple didn't want her to get involved.

Speaking of Tallest Purple, she didn't see him much, as he spent most of the time on the bridge dealing with the war. Sometimes when he came to bed, she noticed drops of purple blood on his robes, undoubtedly a Sobrekt's (probably from the two kryvtors who were unfortunate enough to be captured alive). But on a few occasions when she _did_ see him, he was exceptionally tender and caring. A few times he even brought her snacks to bed or stayed with her until she fell asleep, insisting that he'd be there for her if she needed him. Was this another of his tricks so she'd agree to bear another smeet as soon as she recovered? Or were these attentions genuine?

Whatever his motives, she couldn't deny she was glad for the considerations. She hasn't been getting too much sleep ever since her encounter with the Sobrekt. Whenever she tried, flashes of the battle and images of the Berserker's psychotic eyes haunted her to the point her _PAK_ had to awaken her with a small jolt. The medics said it was an episode of PTSD caused by the stress of that event plus the added stress caused by the miscarriage. The doctors made a few modifications to her _PAK_ that would decrease the activity in the part of her organic brain that inhibited dreaming. Hopefully, it would make the nightmares less recurring.

Her calls with Ilk became more frequent since the war started. It was perhaps the only time of the day she looked forward to. They were continually changing frequencies and channels to avoid being intercepted by the Sobrekt, who were probably tracing communications all around Sobr.

To avoid raising suspicions, Ilk had delayed the task of obtaining the Sobrekt mother cell and instead focused on hacking the Sobrekt's data banks to give the Empire leads on the overdeveloped reptiles' next move. Tenn was impressed with her patience and wariness; something rookie Invaders usually lacked in their rush to be the first to complete their missions. Not Ilk. She carefully bid her time and waited for the right moment to strike.

It was during one of those private transmissions that Ilk showed her a prototype of a cold ray that shot out highly-pressurized streams of ice-cream, thirty per minute. Her demonstration left the test subject, a frill-neck, unconscious on the ground with a lower cardiac frequency and in a deep hibernation state.

"How long did it take you to make it?" Tenn asked, genuinely interested.

" _This prototype took me two hours_." Ilk explained, holding the cannon-like rifle in her hands. " _I have to work out some issues, though. The ice cream melts and becomes warmer in a short time, which in turn could lead to the subject awakening before time. I'm trying to find a way to keep it in a perpetually frozen state._ "

"Well, from what I hear, hyoomans invented it as a snack, not a weapon." Tenn chuckled. "But you'll figure it out."

" _Did the onion smoke bombs work?_ "

"They worked perfectly. The Tallest already sent your schematics and the remaining prototypes to the engineers for mass production. That's sure to give the Sobrekt a hard time," Tenn sighed. "The only bad thing is that they had to call Zim to obtain the onions."

"He's _not that bad! You have to learn how to communicate with him_." That's because you weren't even born when he messed things up, Tenn thought. " _So how is it going over there?_ "

"Boring," Tenn admitted. "Tallest Purple insists on treating me like a porcelain doll ever since the attack. I can't even go to the cafeteria to get nachos without an escort. I mean, come on, it's not like another assassin will spring out of nowhere, right?"

"He's _just worried about you. The Sobrekt_ did _almost kill you, guess Uncle Pur wants someone close in case your internal injuries haven't properly healed yet._ "

Tenn shifted uncomfortably. "Okay, so any plans to conquer your planet yet?"

This time, it was Ilk who shifted uncomfortably. " _More or less. I'm trying to find one involving the mother cell that won't kill the population._ "

"You're an Invader, Ilk. Your job is to conquer the planet, not care for the natives."

" _I know, but… Sobrekt are excellent genetic engineers. I think our scientists would benefit greatly if they were to work together. Besides, dad and Uncle Pur are always saying it'd be nice to have indokuros working for the Empire._ "

It was the first time Tenn ever heard of an Invader who didn't want to wipe out or enslave the population of an enemy planet, _especially_ the Sobrekt. "In that case, you should find a way to have them surrender and make them bend to your will. Put them in a situation in which they will have no choice but to accept whatever term you wish to impose on them."

Ilk was thoughtful for a few moments." _I need to polish the kinks a bit more. Hey, Tenn, I promised dad and uncle Pur I'd personally inform them of the Sobrekt's next strategies._ _Hopefully, they won't ask if I have a plan already._

" There no rush in your case. A month wasn't enough for me back on Meekrob; in planets such as these, the Control Brains and the Tallest don't care about how quickly you finish the mission. They want you to stay alive long enough to complete it."

She wasn't sure if Ilk's expression was confused or perplexed. " _I wanted to ask you..._ " Ilk took a deep breath. " _Think you and mom could join me in a multi-transmission?_ "

Multi-transmission? It did sound tempting. Tenn wished to know more about the status of the war and Lena's cool head might come in handy if the Tallest react the way she imagined they would.

* * *

There aren't many few instances in which Purple would admit he was wrong. After all, Irkens are a proud race, and the Almighty Tallest is _never_ wrong. That's what everyone learns from the cradle, the first information put into their _PAK_ s: never question your Tallest. But this time, as much as he hated to admit it, he _was_ wrong. He should have never started a war with the lizards in such a reckless manner without stopping to consider if the Empire has enough resources or the means to emerge victoriously. He had forgotten, in his grief, that the Sobrekt Armada was equally matched to their own, and their tactics completely unpredictable.

"My Tallest, we've lost Orgydia."

"Big deal, we can survive without sex." Purple shrugged it off. Part of him was sorely disappointed, though. It meant he wouldn't be able to have his share of feminine touch for a good while. "I wonder why they even took that planet. From what I hear, Sobrekt are not much into sex."

"Would you take this a bit more seriously?! Now's Orgydia, what's next?"

"Chill out; Ilk's on the case."

"That's the issue, Purple! One single mistake, no matter how tiny, could cost my baby her head!" Red frowned. "And if she loses her head, it'll be on _your_ conscience."

Purple didn't reply. He could have rebuffed, but he knew his co-Tallest was right. Ilk was skilled, that's right, but the war made things more dangerous for her. Due to the Sobrekt being at high-alert, she postponed her mother cell plan, focusing more on aiding the Empire in the conflict instead. It even took her longer than usual to obtain the information they needed without raising suspicions from the lizards. Red had asked her to personally inform them of what she found as a way to hear her voice and make sure that she was safe and sound.

Not for the first time, he was grateful that Tenn was mentoring his niece. She took out Meekrob single-handedly. Maybe she could have taken down Sobr in a similar way had she not become his wife. Ilk did nothing but speak wonders of her. That's his Tenn, alright.

Speaking of Tenn, the medics said her internal injuries should heal in a few more weeks. He tried to make her as comfortable as possible until then, showing her how much he cared about her. Part of him hoped this would make her realize that his feelings for her were genuine.

"My Tallest, incoming transmission from Sobr."

"Put it through and leave us to talk to Invader Ilk in privacy." The fewer people that knew the report they were about to receive, the less likely it would be for the information to leak out to the media. The lizards were probably keeping an eye on it, looking for clues as to the Irkens' next movement.

"Yes, sir!" Before clearing the room, one of the technicians pressed the buttons to receive the call. The first thing they noticed was that the screen split into two halves, one showing Ilk and DIR in the base and the other Tenn and Lena on their lounge. Must be a multi-transmission. Guess Ilk needed moral support now more than ever.

Speaking of Ilk, she looked tired. _Very_ tired. It's evident she hasn't had a good sleep in a while. "Sweetie, are you okay? You look awful!"

" _Well, you try to stay up three days straight monitoring calls, messages, and transmissions from the_ Shuryo _without calling the attention of the K'agek, They're close to this neighborhood and already took one of my neighbors for questioning._ "

" _But you're not in their radar, right_?" Lena asked worriedly.

" _I offered them some meat to divert their attention; they're targeting people who keep to themselves and try to avoid contact, the behavior any Invader would show if their mission is at risk of being compromised._ _They lowered their guard with the gesture._ "

Purple sighed in relief.

" _Did you learn what the Sobrekt are up to?"_ Tenn inquired.

DIR took it from there. " ** _After monitoring the_ Shuryo's _communications with the generals and those who have a say in war matters, we managed to learn some major target planets in the following weeks._** " The robot uploaded the list of planets under Irken control, with the target planets marked in yellow.

Red was _grinning_. It was perhaps the first sign of joy he had shown these past weeks. "Good job, sweetheart! I knew you could handle it!" Purple subtly rolled his eyes. _Sure you did, Red_. "We'll reinforce the security at those planets and teach those lizards not to mess with the Irken Empire!"

" _Wait_." Tenn cut in. " _I know it would feel_ good _to blow the Sobrekt out of the universe, but as you know, in a war, you can't always do what feels good. You have to do what's logical."_

" _And what's logical?_ " Lena inquired.

" _The hardest time to lie is when the other person is expecting to be lied to_."

Purple pondered over her words. "If they're waiting for a lie, we can't just give them one."

"What?" Red said.

" _What will the Sobrekt think if we reinforce_ all _the target planets?_ "

"That's the point, they'll be dead, so they won't be able to think about anything."

" ** _My Tallest, suddenly our Armada splits and magically reinforces the defenses of all the targeted worlds just before the attacks? What will the Sobrekt think?_** _"_

Red was rubbing his chin. "...The Sobrekt will know someone is filtering the information. It would confirm the presence of an Invader on their homeworld."

"They'll put all of their resources into finding the Invader, which might make things even more dangerous for Ilk. She wouldn't even be able to sleep without an eye open." Purple continued. "I see where you're going with this." *****

"What to do, then? We just let them take _our_ planets?"

" _Not all of them. Look, Foodcourtia is one of the targets. That planet is perhaps the most important to us because it supplies the_ Massive's _snacks, which you two eat daily_." Tenn glanced at him and Red. Sweet Irk, she's so hot when she's dead-serious. " _So it would make sense if that's the first planet you reinforce because you know the Sobrekt will_ 'probably' _attack it, precisely because_ they _are aware of that too._ _In this case, they would think you're just precautionary_."

 _"_ ** _What she suggests is to pick the planets vital for the Empire and center our defenses around those. Let the sobrekt take the less-useful planets._** " DIR said.

" _What they say make sense. The first thing one would do in a war is to make sure the enemy doesn't cut off an army's production lines: communications, supplies, weaponry, and all that_." Lena concluded.

_"There's something else. As you know, Sobrekt tend to use hybrids on the battlefield; the reason is that animals cannot be hacked or broken, unlike machines. Well, there's the one used for space battles."_

"Wait a minute, _space_? How come its eyes don't come out of its eye sockets from the lack of oxygen?"

" _This one, in particular, was designed for this purpose, so I suppose its genome most include DNA from an animal that lives in deep space. The point is that these hybrids, known as Kurokran, don't have pilots. Or if they have, they control them from somewhere else. Additionally, Kurokran can disguise themselves as aircraft._ " As Ilk spoke, her side of the screen changed into a schematic of said hybrid, a draconic-like creature with wyvern-like locomotion and black coloration. " _Be careful with those._ "

"Sweetheart, I don't mean to rush you or anything, but do you have any plan for conquering the lizards yet?"

"Red!" Purple snapped simultaneously with Lena.

He noticed Ilk shifting uncomfortably. Nop, she didn't yet. Then again, she had been too busy filtering them information about the Sobrekt's tactics, so it was no wonder she had forgotten about her plan.

" _Well, it will take me a little longer to get access to the mother cell. Access is restricted only to those who work closely with Dr. Scylla, the head geneticist. I was on my way up the ranks before the war broke out, but they might promote me if I impress Scylla. But there is one thing_."

"What is it?"

" _Sobr's seasons last three years each. In winter, all sentient population goes into hibernation move to spend the winter, leaving most of their home planet defenseless except for their orbital ring in defensive mode..._ "

Ilk went on describing what she currently knew of the Sobrekt's inactivity during winter. Purple was impressed. The Dren guy never even touched the topic of Sobr's climate during his mission. He didn't have to speak much, as Red was so delighted over the new information that he took over the following conversations, in which Ilk discussed what she had planned so far.

The Irken Armada was a few light-years away from Sobr, so it was plenty of time until Sobr's winter, during which Ilk could hopefully obtain the mother cell. She was hoping to understand the link between the genetic hybrids better, and somehow find a way to turn them against their Sobrekt masters. Purple hadn't seen Red so happy ever since Lena accepted his marriage proposal. He had to remind Red that she had to obtain the mother cell before thinking about the next step of her plan, to which Tenn agreed.

They could have kept discussing, but Ilk had to hang close. His niece had put a timer to avoid spending too much time talking with a 'foreign vessel.' Afterward, Purple spent the next half hour hearing Red bragging about how he was right in assigning Ilk to Sobr, forgetting that he had been freaking out her losing her head and being 'unprepared' for such a difficult planet. He stopped listening after minute twenty and instead focused on his Slurpee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This whole part is from The Imitation Game, in which the same topic was discussed. The Germans WOULD have realized the enemy broke their code if the British had shown that they knew of the attack beforehand when they had no way of knowing it UNLESS they broke the Enigma code. The same applies to the Sobrekt here.


	17. Out of Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a stop on Devastis, Tenn does something incredibly stupid. Purple retaliates in the worst way possible.

Wherever she went, the war was the main topic of conversation. After Ilk's latest report about the targeted planets, she heard Tallest Red and Purple had a debate with the generals and higher-ranking soldiers (which in their standards she imagined as a childish argument) about which planets were worth saving. Foodcourtia was a must, but they couldn't agree on what other planets. Tallest Purple didn't talk much about the issue when he came home, but judging by the childishly angry pout on his face, she could guess he had lost the argument.

Weeks later, the Armada made a temporary stop on _Devastis_. The Control Brains required that the Tallest personally supervise the training of the newest soldiers, the development of the new weapons, and reinforce the orbital defenses. It makes sense. _Devastis_ provides the Empire with all its troops, Elite soldiers, and Invaders. To lose it would mean a significant loss of troops and training facilities.

Tenn was dying to get off the _Massive_ for a while, but to her utter disappointment, Tallest Purple forbid it. He didn't want her on the line of fire should the Sobrekt launch a surprise attack on the planet. She argued that there's no way to know if they'd attack that same day.

"Well, duh! Why do you think it's called _a surprise_ attack, my dear?"

Tenn had wanted to keep protesting, but she was wise enough to keep quiet about it. She wouldn't back down, but she wouldn't bring forth her husband's wrath either. Instead, Tenn waited until he came down to make a plan to sneak down to _Devastis_ without anyone knowing. All she needed was a way to get rid of her escort. On Tallest Purple's orders, they couldn't leave her side, and they were to inform him should something happen in his absence.

Her search took her to one of the smaller bars within the _Massive_. There are a few located in different spots inside the flagship, each meant for a particular height, a factor which additionally affected their design. The ones for smallers were dirty, overcrowded and with cheap sodas, while the bars built for tallers were spacious, comfortable and with a great variety of snacks and drinks.

Tenn found herself in one of the latter: the one closest to the bridge, frequented by the pilots, communications officers and the Tallest's bodyguards when not on duty. Even the Tallest themselves often came here to vent off, so this bar is kept fully stocked with all kinds of food, particularly their favorite ones. There's also lots of music and entertainment for its patrons. Tenn remembered one of her 'dates' with Tallest Purple; he invited her to have a drink and dance, and she met his more charismatic side that day. The former Invader sighed. There's no point in thinking what could have been if she had seen his intentions. Instead, she looked for somewhere to sit, followed by her two female escorts. Tenn ended up sitting right at the bar, which was mostly empty, in part because her 'companions' drove all males away. The bartender swiftly gave her what she asked for and left her until she'd call for another drink, eyeing the Elites

She couldn't help but wonder if she'd be able to talk with Tallest Purple about his obsessive jealousy.

Tenn took a sip from her not-so-potent drink. She took a look at the bottle: _Krazy Kobra_. She wondered how they got their hands on this one; the Poisonous Cobra People only manufactured it. Had Skoodge sent a whole stack of it as an offering? Or maybe they got it in the black market. The label said it didn't have much alcohol, but from the taste, she could tell it had a generous amount of venom. It wasn't deadly, but it could leave you in a severe drunken state if abused.

Tenn looked down at her glass, then glanced at her escort. A plan started to form in her mind; Irken Elites rarely had a chance to have fun after graduating, since they spent most of the time on the battlefield. All they needed was a little push. If she could get them to drink a bit of this beverage, she'd be able to sneak away. "You two."

One of the Irkenettes reacted first. "Need anything, ma'am?"

"I'm fine. I wanted to ask you if you'd like something to drink."

The Elite shifted uncomfortably. "We're not allowed to drink on duty, ma'am. The Tallest forbid it."

Tenn smirked, raising her glass. "Chill out. My husband doesn't have to find out about this. Consider it a reward for doing such a good job."

The other Irkenette spoke first ."Nam, don't you think we could…? Even if a tiny sip…"

"Are you nuts? If Tallest Purple finds out, we'll be lucky if he doesn't re-encode us as service drones or worse!" her companion, whose name was Nam, hissed in a low voice.

"Oh, come on, you're not telling me you don't miss the after-parties on the Academy?"

"This isn't the Academy, Jal! One mistake can cost us more than a few hours in detention!"

"How about this? Just _one_ little shot." Tenn served the _Krazy Kobra_ on two glass shots meant for whiskey. "It won't do you any bad. This drink doesn't have any alcohol, so nobody will notice that you took a tiny sip," she held out the two glasses, smirking. "What do you say?"

The Irken Elites exchanged looks.

* * *

_I can't believe it worked!_

She almost laughed as she snuck out her way out of the bar, down the corridors and into the _Massive_ 's teleporter, where she typed in the command to teleport herself to the planet's surface. True to her calculation, the Elites couldn't resist the temptation to take 'one more shot.' And they didn't know the ingredients to the _Krazy Kobra_ , so they didn't suspect a thing. By the second shot, they were completely drunk.

Tenn stepped out of the teleporter triumphantly, looking around at her surroundings. She relished in the familiar cold green colors of Devastis, waves of memories of her younger days coming back to her. There's the bench where her younger self would take a nap after long hours of training, and the training course where she first met Dren, she even saw a newly-arrived group of smeets from Irk's main smeetery arriving in a ship. For one moment, she almost saw her younger self amongst those newly-arrived trainees.

Tenn left this part of _Devastis_ and headed towards a small area located a few streets away. This street was known to have a few entertainment facilities, mostly bars, cafeterias, and music lounges. Tenn walked down the metallic path for a while until she came unto a familiar establishment named _The Pinkorse_. It still hadn't changed much after all these years. She had fond memories of coming here after a whole day of training to take a well-deserved break, sometimes meeting with her training companions or even Dren. Taking a deep breath, Tenn stepped into the building.

The _Pinkorse_ was perhaps the most famous establishment in _Devastis_. It wasn't only a bar; it also had a small restaurant area and a dance floor, not to mention its food was delicious. Unlike the rest of the buildings on the planet, the interior was decorated in the Irken Empire's warmer mauve, pink and purple palettes, giving it a more welcoming feeling. The food or drinks were delivered by service drones, though their tables were not as tight as those in the _Massive_ or Foodcourtia restaurants, probably to help their backs get used to the position. The place was filled to the brim with trainees who wished an escape from the hard, brutal training. To Tenn's luck, no one seemed to recognize her. She wasn't wearing her royal robes, after all, but an ordinary piece of clothing. Her height, however, demanded respect on itself, which made it easier for her to find an empty seat at the bar.

Casually, one of her neighbors was a communications officer from the _Massive_. He wasn't that hard to identify. His uniform was brilliant pink-red, and a high collar hid the lower half of his face. "Lady Tenn?" she heard him ask next to her, sounding surprised.

"Hey there," she said, not minding him, as she grabbed a nearby bottle of ladriak whiskey and took a big gulp.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, what are you doing here? Tallest Purple ordered you to stay on the _Massive_."

"Big deal, he's not my boss." Tenn sipped from her drink again.

"Maybe not, but he _is_ your husband. It might not look like it sometimes, but he does care about you in his particular way."

Tenn scoffed. "Right, so much that he ruined my life just because he couldn't swallow the fact that I DON'T love him! Not to mention, he wants to use me as a smeet factory!" She glanced briefly at the officer. He was looking at her as if she had lost her mind. His gaze lowered to her glass.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, I think you've drunk too much."

Tenn frowned and pulled her drink away from his grasp. "Who do you think you are, pal?"

"My name is Jack ma'am."

"Well, _Jack_ , this is the first time I've managed to come out of my gilded cage in a long time, so I'd thank you if you left me alone!" Tenn tried to get down, but her foot slipped underneath her, and she fell to the ground. "Ow! Who made this chair?"

"Ma'am, are you okay?"

Tenn couldn't help but find his face funny. "I'm fine, Jackie!" she said in-between giggling fits.

"Lady Tenn, I don't mean to offend you, but I must take you to see a doctor. It looks like you're heavily intoxicated."

"Noo, not the doctor!" Her PAK-legs clumsily carried her towards the dance floor, ignoring Jack's cries. She burst through the crowd of dancing trainees, laughing wildly while taking more gulps from her whiskey. "Weee! Catch me if you can, Jackie!" She went straight towards the tables to hide under the nearest one, not realizing there were people seated in that one until she noticed a pair of black boots. "Hey, get your feet out of my hiding spot, pal!"

"Tenn?! What are you doing here?!"

* * *

There are times when Purple hates the Control Brains. You could call this one of those times. Instead of snacking on the _Massive_ 's bridge where he could more easily get to his wife should something happen, they make him come down to _Devastis_ to watch a bunch of newbies training and test the new weapons. He had to admit he felt a little nostalgic once they came down, though. He hadn't been here ever since he and Red took the training to become Irken Elite soldiers. The time when they dropped off Ilk to do the very same training didn't count, as they hadn't personally gone down to the surface.

Purple had to say, though, he had a good time watching the tests for Ilk's onion smoke bombs, mainly because the victims- err, _volunteers_ were the trainees with the worst marks, and he found it amusing. He was happy to say he and Red had _never_ been used as volunteers.

After a short, quick inspection of _Devastis_ 's orbital defenses, fixing a few technical problems in the cannons and installing some new programs to identify the space-deep hybrids Ilk had talked about, he and Red decided to eat something before going back to the _Massive_. And what better place than the _Pinkorse_ , their favorite place to hang out back in their Academy days?

"I wonder if it's still the same. I mean, it's been a long while since we last set foot here."

"I hope Kily is still there."

"You're married now, remember?"

"What? Not because of that! I mean that she knew how I liked my drinks!"

Purple chuckled. "Right. You were head over heels for her."

"I was not. Besides, Kily is homosexual." Red protested. "How are things with Tenn?"

"So-so… I mean, she seems to have physically healed, but she doesn't seem affected by the miscarriage emotionally-speaking. I'm not sure if she's trying to bottle it up, so people won't think she's weak or…" he sighed. "I don't know what to do, Red. I'm trying to get close to her, but she's still as cold as ever."

"You have to give her some time, Purple. I mean, she just lost a smeet, and she probably doesn't know how she's supposed to feel. Don't forget we don't get the information regarding… well, that topic into our _PAK_ s. It's the type of things one must learn by experience."

Soon they came upon the entertainment street. All trainees, soldiers, and Elites saluted and wiggled their lekku as they passed by. He nodded in approval. They all knew their place. A service drone in-training made the stupid mistake of tripping right in front of them, to which he received a painful shock from their escorts' electric spears. The shortie disappeared through the crowd in a hurry afterward. Purple didn't find it in himself to laugh at the drone's misery, though. His heart was still aching from the loss of his smeet.

He couldn't help but wonder how things would have been if he had taken different decisions that day. What if he had let Lenn come out of the room instead of locking her in it? What if he had stayed with her instead of leaving her alone? Would she still have suffered the miscarriage or would he have been able to protect them _both_? It hurt to think he was _this_ close to being a father. Purple pushed the depressing thought away. They'd try again.

As Red had hoped, the _Pinkorse_ was mostly unchanged when they walked in. The only difference was that some of the workers had been changed as the previous ones either got the transfer to _Foodcourtia_ they wanted or were fired and sent somewhere else. True to its name, most of the décor was the usual mauve. Judging by how many people were in here, he guessed the Elite Test season was over, and they were celebrating it.

As soon as they arrived, the guy in charge of seating customers yelped in alarm. "My Tallest, what a pleasant surprise!"

"Are you full?" Red asked bluntly.

"Err…" The irken swiftly ran into the table area. Purple heard some yelling, complaints, and plates being hurriedly picked up. A few seconds later, he returned with some bruises all over. "It seems one of the tables has been cleared, sirs!" It sounded more like the previous occupants were kicked out of the table, but frankly Purple didn't care. Life isn't fair to shorters, after all.

Coincidentally, they were seated in their old, usual table. Purple and Red got their favorite snacks. It tasted even better than in their Academy days. Much like in _Foodcourtia_ , _their_ food was prepared at its best to get on their good graces. After all, if the Tallest like eating at a particular place, then the masses followed suit, which meant a bigger income for the establishment.

"I wonder if Ilk ever ate here." Purple wondered out loud.

"I guess she did. I mean, look at that," Red pointed at the nearby wall. There were numerous holographic pictures of _Pinkorse_ 's annual Eating contest, depicting the winners. He was pointing at a particular photo of Ilk with a big smirk, surrounded by lots of empty plates and an electronic counter that read _104_ in bright pink numbers.

"No way!"

Red chuckled. "What? You're afraid someone can break your record?"

"Of course not, _my_ record is safe!" Purple pointed at another picture, this one depicting him and a more enormous amount of plates, with his counter reading _197_. "Think Tenn would be impressed about it?"

Red shrugged. "I don't think so, Pur. Don't forget she was an Invader and they rarely have time to snack around- What the?!"

Purple almost jumped off the table as someone slid right under it. Irritated, he tried kicking the intruder out. He was about to call their escorts and tell them to punish the infractor when he heard a soft yelp of pain. "Hey, get your feet out of my hiding spot, pal!" That voice! It couldn't be! Alarmed, he looked under the table.

"Tenn?! What are you doing here?!"

"Wait, that's Tenn?" Red joined him.

"Oh, great!" Tenn spoke in-between hiccups. "The last person I want to see!"

"L-Lady Tenn!" Purple looked up at one of the communications officers approaching with a panicked expression. "My Tallest!" He saluted.

"What is my wife doing here?"

"I don't know, sir! She just came in and started drinking!"

"So she's… err…" Red paused. "In a 'severe alcohol poisoning state' thing?"

"Drunk, sir."

"Yeah, so she's drunk?"

"Looks like it, sirs."

Of all the stupid things Tenn could do, she had to get drunk. Purple rubbed his temple. Okay, no one else seemed to have noticed, so he better take her out of here before she made a fool of herself, and him by extension. "Okay, Tenn, I think you had enough whiskey for today-"

"Get your hands off me, you pervert!" Tenn snapped, bursting from under the table on her _PAK_ legs and clumsily trying to make her way to the door. "You will never catch me alive!" Purple groaned and went straight after her. He almost caught her a few times when she tripped or bumped into a wall, but he was out of shape, and she slipped away. "You! Catch her!" He yelled at their bodyguards as he darted out of the building, Red in hot pursuit.

Tenn was out of their sight within seconds, but it wasn't that hard to find her. They just had to follow the yelling. He turned around the corner in time to see a spittle runner going straight towards him; with a frightened yelp, Purple jumped back, bumping into Red, and both rammed against their bodyguards, sending them all into the ground. Red yelled at him to get off while their escorts merely groaned in pain.

 _That woman is so going to get it!_ "Don't you just stand there! Get her! I don't care if you have to bring that ship down, but retrieve my wife!"

"Pur, I don't think that will be necessary…" Red pointed behind him just in time to hear a crash. Alarmed, he turned around to see the spittle runner had rammed into one of the nearest buildings, releasing smoke from its engines and the cockpit.

"Red, if anyone asks, Bob did it."

"Okay."

* * *

Tenn woke up with a terrible headache. Stirring in bed, she tried to hide her head under the pillows. Wait a minute, in bed? How did she get here? She was down in _Devastis_ having a drink and… Her organic brain pulsated. Ow… Damn it; she must have had too many shots. As her ocular implants got used to the darkness, Tenn realized she was back in Tallest Purple's room on the _Massive_. Fuck. Had whoever brought her inform him that she had escaped, or _he_ was the one who found her? Oh, great. He didn't seem to be around for now; must be on Tallest duty. This gave her a few more hours before… whatever he planned to do.

She felt very thirsty. After a few more minutes, she reluctantly made her way out of bed and covered herself in a nearby bathrobe. She poured herself some water from the snack bar's sink, but as time went on, her headache never diminished even with her _PAK_ 's painkillers. She took a warm gel bath to get rid of the sticky sweat all over her body, but the pain in her head was still the same. Not only that, but she felt as if something was missing. She didn't know what, only that it was gone. Was it an after-effect of the alcohol.

Her stomach growled soon after. Tenn put on her bathrobe again and made her way out of the room. The lounge was dark, something for which she was grateful. In her current state, the Invader wasn't sure she could put up with bright lights. And she knew about bright lights; she dealt with them back on…Where has she dealt with it? She couldn't put her finger on it. Oh, well. Tenn grabbed some cheese puffs from the fridge, which she found next to a gelatinous blue dish of some sort that almost seemed to glow. Once more, the shape looked familiar, but she couldn't remember.

"You're finally awake."

Tenn jumped. There he was, sitting on the couch, his violet eyes glowing in the darkness. The way Tallest Purple was looking at her reminded Tenn of the night he snuck into her apartment and blackmailed her into this marriage. He wasn't happy. "Did you have fun?" Tenn tried to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat. "How are you feeling? You got quite a nasty bump on your head, so you experience quite a few sequels for a while…" Oddly, despite his angry stance, his voice was calm.

He just mentioned a bump. Tenn touched the side of her head, wincing in mild pain as she pressed it. Must be a bruise. But how did she get it? Did it have to do with what happened last night?

"I asked you a question, Tenn." Tallest Purple hissed as he got to his feet and came closer to her. "Did you have fun _humiliating_ me last night?" Tenn instinctively stepped back until he was cornered her against the wall. "I'm waiting for an answer, Tenn."

Tenn finally gathered the courage to look up at him defiantly. "I needed fresh air, _Purple_. I was suffocating from being here for too long without ever getting out, and I was _sick_ of being constantly monitored by you! I'm not your prisoner nor an object!"

"I am aware of that, my dear. But in case you forgot, you were ordered to rest by the medics."

"I swear if I hear about the miscarriage one more time-!" Tenn gagged as his hand closed around her throat.

" _Don't_ _you dare_ ," Tallest Purple said darkly. "I've been very lenient with you, Tenn, but I will _not_ allow you to disrespect the memory of _our_ child." For a brief moment, she saw the hurt and sorrow in his eyes. "What you did last night was the last straw, woman. As my wife, you're supposed to put an example, not drag my name through the mud. I am _very_ disappointed in you, Tenn. Just when I thought we were making progress."

"Progress?! Did you forget that the only reason I accepted your 'offer' was that you left me no choice?" Tenn hissed back. "But you know what? I'm starting to wish I had been turned over to the Control Brains for physical assault. At least working as a service drone would have been better than being your _wife_."

The grip on her throat tightened as she felt the fire in his eyes burning her like a raging inferno. She thought he would kill her then and there. The deepest part of her hoped he did to be done with this. But he released her instead, looking at her coldly.

"You want it so badly? Then you'll have it. From this moment on, you are no longer the conqueror of Meekrob. Your status as an Invader will be revoked, and instead, you'll be re-encoded as a service drone. Additionally, all your previous honorifics will be removed."

Tenn's squeedly-spooch dank and her heart almost came to an abrupt halt. "Y-You can't do that!" She practically screeched.

"I am the Tallest, my dear, and I can do whatever I want." He sneered. "But don't worry, I'd never ask you to work as a service _are_ still my wife, after all," he stroked her cheek. "I hope you enjoyed your little escapade last night because it will be the last in a _very_ long time."

**Author's Note:**

> Things don't look good for Tenn. Hopefully things will eventually get better, right. I don't think I'll put an updating schedule on this one, as I mentioned up above, it'll just come and go. It will mostly center on both Tenn and Purple, though, and I'll be switching between their perspectives every now and then.


End file.
